Windows Live OneCare Privacy Supplement

(last updated May 2008)
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Note that this page is a supplement to the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. In order to understand the data collection and use practices relevant for a particular site or service, you should read both the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement and any applicable supplement.

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Windows Live OneCare Safety ScannerWindows Live OneCare Safety Scanner

This supplement covers the Windows Live OneCare family of services, including the OneCare subscription service, and the OneCare Safety Scanner.

If you purchase a subscription to the Windows Live OneCare service, we will collect personal information, including your name, e-mail address, phone number, postal and billing addresses, and credit card number, in order to create a Microsoft billing account. You will have the ability to access and edit this information at the Microsoft Billing website.

If you subscribe to the Windows Live OneCare service and install the Windows Live OneCare software, certain information about your machine and use of the service will automatically be transmitted to Microsoft in order to permit us to provide the service and help keep your machine operating in a trouble-free manner. Examples of this information include:

information about your computer hardware and software, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, and version number of the Windows Live OneCare software;

a unique machine identifier which is generated by the Windows Live OneCare software;

crash information on your computer if problems occur within Windows Live OneCare;

information about the health of your computer, including the overall health meter rating and any reasons why the health is not optimal;

information about status of your computer's antivirus protection, and data on any viruses detected (e.g. virus name, date/time of detection, names/paths of infected files, action taken);

firewall settings and policies on your computer; and

information about data backups performed, such as number of users using backup, last backup date/time, number successful DVD backups, and details of any unknown file extensions backed up.

The specific information collected may change as the software and service are updated. Additional updated information on what data is collected is available on our performance data collection page. Once your subscription to the Windows Live OneCare service ends, some of the functions of the Windows Live OneCare software may continue to operate, but it will no longer automatically send information to Microsoft.

Please note that while you have the Windows Live OneCare software installed, updates to the software will be automatically downloaded and installed. This keeps your software up-to-date and helps ensure that you have the latest features and protections available. For more information, see Windows Live OneCare Features.

Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner

The Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner allows you to scan your PC for viruses, hard disk performance, and open ports (Internet connections). If you chose to run the scan, a scanning tool will be downloaded and installed on your computer. Once the scan is run, certain performance data that is necessary for the ongoing operation of the service will be uploaded to Microsoft, such as whether the scan succeeded, information on viruses detected, etc. Certain additional information about your PC and how you use the service ("usage data") may also be uploaded to help us improve future scanner features and recommendations. You will have the ability to opt-out of the collection of this usage data, but not the performance data. None of the data uploaded will be used to identify you or your computer.


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