This post was very timely.
I was just considering on the weekend, how everything Microsoft is doing at the moment seems to rely more and more heavily on you using passport.

Having had experience with hotmail and spam, as I'm sure most others have. Researching Microsoft's Terms and Conditions I note:
Hotmail keeps your personally identifiable information private and does not share it with any third parties, unless you choose, at the time of registration, to be listed in either the Hotmail Directory or the Internet White Pages directory.

I created a test account some time ago to test this theory. I made 100% sure I was not subscribed to any bulletins or listed in any directories via their registration process. The account was also randomly generated characters.

Within 4 days I had my first spam and now the account regularly gets 4-5 a day. I have NEVER used this account for anything other than logging in for purposes of this test.

What is the relevence? Well it is clear Microsoft does on-sell your details despite their claims and explicit policy otherwise.
Now we also have the question of their security etc.

With more relience on Passport, and Microsoft wanting e-Wallets and whatever their next move is.
I'm not sure this is a company I feel comfortable with and would like to share so much information with. If I had never heard of Microsoft before and was evaluating them as a first time supplier or the like, I'm 100% certain they would be rejected.

Is it only because of their stranglehold on the market that we tolerate this behaviour? We can make a difference, and it will be a cold day in hell before I entrust them with details of a delicate nature.

P.S. I do use online banking and shopping, but only with companies I feel I can trust.

.oO fr3ez Oo.