Win'95 handing our directories over to MS?????

[Chet Ensign <Chet_Ensign%LDS -at- NOTES -dot- WORLDCOM -dot- COM>]

Has anyone else heard this story?

I've been told that when you install Windows 95 and register electronically, or
when you sign up for the Microsoft Network, there is a utility in the program
that inspects your PC (and your network, if it can reach out and find other
nodes) and then quietly passes your directory structure, the list of installed
products, all your hardware configuration, etc. to MS in the background. This
sounds so looney I thought it must be another example of the Urban Myth, but
I've heard it from several different people.

Can anyone verify this? And if it turns out to be true, doesn't it seem
surprising that people are not raising h*** about it?

Granted, I am one of those people who hands out a false Social Security Number
who doesn't have a Congressionally-mandated right to ask for it. I rarely buy
with a credit card over the phone and I absolutely won't allow anybody to take
a "convenient monthly withdrawal" out of my checking account. I'm a bit stiffer
than most on this whole privacy thing. And that extends to the hard disk of my
PC. Not that there is anything on there of such earth-shattering importance.
But it is the principle of the thing. If Microsoft wants to do market research,
I think that they should have to ask first, not just vacuum clean it off your
system.

Thanks for any info and best regards,

/chet