How Obamacare is Not Socialist

The main focus of late on The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act -- or PPACA; informally known as 'Obamacare" -- has, rightfully, been on the Individual Mandate provision of the law.  This is the provision that requires all U.S. citizens to purchase some measure of health insurance beginning in 2014.  Several states, lobbyist groups, and many Republicans have argued that the mandate -- and by extension, the entire law -- is unconstitutional.  Three days of arguments were held in late March before the Supreme Court, which is expected to decide the matter later this year.

The second main thrust of the argument against PPACA by the Republican Party has been to paint it as a major drive towards socialism, an overt attack on privately run insurance companies and a gross attempt to kill the free market, all bundled in one.  To that end, much misinformation has been disseminated into the public consciousness that state run "Health Insurance Exchanges" -- also mandated by PPACA -- are government run insurance companies, are designed to force public insurance companies into bankruptcy, and kill tens of thousands of jobs.  This could not be further from the truth.

What follows is a commentary I'd written some weeks back on an article describing what these exchanges are and how they work.  I'd intended to write a full blog post on the subject but had procrastinated, as I am wont to do.  I've posted the original text here, with my commentary emphasis added.

(To see my original annotated commentary, click here.  I also suggest watching the Fareed Zakaria GPS special, entitled Saving Health Care.  I believe it is now available on iTunes.)

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How will health insurance exchanges work under new federal health care legislation?

To put it simply, health insurance exchanges will sell insurance.
This is highly inaccurate.  The exchanges themselves will not sell anything.  Private insurance companies will sell insurance *at* the exchanges.  I provide more detail below

The health insurance exchanges (that will be established as part of the implementation of the new health care reform bill) are places where you can get coverage at competitive prices. It is aimed to give more choices to you, the consumer, by allowing you to do comparison shopping, even as you are armed with the information you need to make your decision.
Supply Management is the discipline that defines the optimal way to procure goods and services, regardless of the specific characteristics of those goods or services. It delineates higly structured, repeatable, uniform processes and denotes best practices in the execution of those processes.
Almost all large corporations have dedicated supply management divisions that ensure the corporation intelligently acquires goods and services at the most competitive costs possible.  (More information: http://bit.ly/vbk8Ym )

What is important to ephasize is that the methods and processes used in Supply Management are *independent of* the specific goods or services being acquired.  Moreover, Supply Management enables an entity to acquire highly complex goods or services at very competitive costs, and with highly quantifiable savings.  As you can see from these images, Supply Management is a complex discipline: http://bit.ly/zLVfws

The following commentary includes a Supply Management perspective, which in this instance defines the best way to procure health insurance products.
 
The health insurance exchanges will also establish regulations to ensure that insurance companies "toe the line" and avoid abusive practices such as arbitrarily raising the premiums or denying coverage to those who get sick.

Here's how it works, in a nutshell.

State autonomy. The federal government will decentralize the exchanges and leave the decisions to the state. The state will receive funding from the central government but it will be the one to establish the exchange.

This is a basic tenet of conservative Republican ideology. It speaks to less federal government involvement, as well as states' empowerment to manage civic programs, and the funding thereof, as they see fit.

"Central" (federal) government funding will be used in facilitating the establishment of the exchanges. It may also be used to help fund vouchers granted to low-income individuals -- the definition of which has specific criteria -- to assist them in buying insurance from a private insurance company.

It may also decide to let a private institution run the exchange for the state. The only time the federal government will step in is if the exchange run by state does not meet minimum standards.
This establishes a set of minimum basic standards that all insurance providers' products must meet in order to be eligible for sale at any given exchange. Among the 10 established categories of standards are: comprehensive coverage; maternity care; mental health treatment; and prescription drug coverage.

An analogy to this might be that all cars must have seat-belts that can withstand X amount of impact force. This is a basic minimum standard that any car providers' products must meet in order to be eligible for sale in any individual state.

The only other time the federal government can step in is if a state refuses to establish such an exchange, as is the case with New Hampshire (source, the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/wbes3p .) In that instance, the federal government would establish that state's exchange.
If you have further interest on this point, see this interview with Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius:  http://bit.ly/yxYT0L

Improved access to health insurance. When in the past, those who can only buy on the individual market find it hard (and expensive!) to get insurance, now these can have the same kind of access as those who are employed.

Comprehensive and high-value products. The exchange will give people access to insurance that is affordable to all. In fact, to keep things interesting to the consumer, the exchange has the job of providing as much good "stock" or "merchandise" for the consumer to choose from.
An analogy is a mall in which there are three clothing stores. From the stores' perspective, the mall provides a central location in which each store can sell to a large customer pool that is motivated to buy.  From the customer perspective, they have ease of access and of product comparison.
 
The success of the mall lies in its ability to attract numerous vendors of sufficient quality. From a buying and selling perspective, the superficial qualities of the mall are immaterial. The availability of numerous competitive vendors and of a large motivated consumer base define the efficacy of the mall.

Free-market laws of supply and demand determine the prices as the three clothing stores compete against one another for the customers. In this analogy, the health insurance exchange is the mall and the private insurance providers are the clothing stores.

Special accommodations for the uninsured. The exchange should also ensure that uninsured people will finally get the coverage they need, even if it means automatically enrolling them in a plan and providing subsidies so that they can afford to be in the plan.

Personal benefits specialists. To help you buy insurance, the exchange will act as your personal benefits specialist, who will negotiate for you and secure a plan that best suits your needs and budget.
There is a maxim: “He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.”  This holds true not just in the realm of law, but also in the realm of the free-market.

Negotiation is a skill and an art; most people do not appreciate this crucial point.  Much as lawyers are advocates to individuals within the legal process, these "personal benefits specialists" are skilled, knowledgeable advocates to individuals in the insurance procurement process.

These specialists are familiar with the intricacies of health insurance products, and this will allow them to more skillfully negotiate the costs and features of an insurance product on behalf of an individual.

Participation of health insurance providers. Now, don't worry that health insurance companies will be pushed out of the picture. On the contrary, they will be part of the exchange. They will be the ones who will supply the insurance plans. But there will be a more competitive atmosphere, since the exchange allows people to compare different plans available.
Q.E.D., This is not socialized medicine.  On the contrary, it is a perfect construct of free-market exchange.

Profound Insight of Musical Knowledge

Have you heard of  The Music Genome Project?  Most likely you aware of the popular consequence of it: Pandora Internet Radio.  If you're not familiar with Pandora, one of the things I really love about it is that it "learns" the type of music you like, based on your listening patterns.  It then provides new music you may not have been aware of, which matches the things you like about music.

The best part about that, is it is able to describe to you the exact, specific features of the music you like based on a list of over 400 distinct musical attributes.  So in Pandora, you can click on a song it suggests but had never heard before and learn exactly why it was chosen for you.  It really is a marvel of technology and musical appreciation, and I even once wrote congress to protect Pandora's existence from predatory copyright royalties that were aimed at eliminating internet radio.  (The bill was soundly defeated, which encouraged -- however briefly -- my confidence in our representative political system.)

So, I figured I'd share with your many of the attributes upon which the Music Genome Project says my tastes in dance music are based. I can't disagree with any of them!

• a breathy female vocal
• a dry recording sound
• a female vocal
• a highly synthetic sonority
• a laid back female vocal
• a rhythmic intro
• a slow moving bass line
• a tight kick sound
• a variety of synth sounds
• beats made for dancing
• buildup/breakdown
• busy beats
• danceable beats
• disco influences
• effected synths
• emphasis on instrumental performance
• extensive studio production
• four-on-the-floor beats
• heavily effected synths
• house roots
• inventive synth arrangements
• light synth fx
• prevalent use of groove
• rock influences
• romantic lyrics
• smooth synth textures
• straight drum beats
• subtle buildup/breakdown
• subtle use of arpeggiated synths
• subtle use of staccato synths
• synth heavy arrangements
• synth riffs
• synth swoops
• the use of chordal patterning
• trance roots
• trippy soundscapes
• unsyncopated ensemble rhythms
• use of modal harmonies

I'm also a big fan of the Pop and Jazz genres, and at some point perhaps I'll post those attributes as well.

KMFLMFAO

Here we go again.  My latest mix has more up to date tracks, and is much more of a straight up dance mix.  Some that really believe in fringe electronic or obscure beats may find this a bit too mainstream to give it much of a shot.  But whatever; I like the music.

In the mix is some David Guetta, Oakenfold, Pulser, Dennis De Laat, Dave Aude and others.  Bringing up the vocals, some Rihanna, Ke$ha and Katy Perry.  I like Pop and I won't apologize.  As to the title of the mix, it's simple.  I have a close, personal friend that hates LMFAO.  Also there was once a group called KMFDM for their hatred of Depeche Mode. As in "Kill Mother F*cking Depeche Mode."  I always loved that, so there you go.  Well I hope you're as tired of reading this mediocre blog-spit as I am of writing it.  On to the mix!  

The playlist to this mix, with links to buy the tracks from Amazon.com's MP3 store, can be found here.

The following file is a self-extracting archive, so just download and run ("double-click" in Windows*) the file and it will extract the mix.  If a password is required, it will be in the name of the downloaded file.  As always, comments are appreciated.  Enjoy!

(*If you use Mac or Linux, you can get the program needed to extract the file from here.)

Get Down, Get Funky

Well I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but I had the most difficult time loading the music.  It is a music mix I made a few years ago -- maybe as many as four years now!  But, I think it's still a great dance mix and I hope you do too.  In the coming weeks I hope to post a much newer mix that I'm working on, on and off.  Anyhow, feel free to leave a comment here on the blog!

 

Cream Donuts

Here is the mix, called "Cream Donuts."  Why?  Why not?!  I like cream donuts. :)  The file is a self-extracting archive, so just download and run ("double-click" in Windows*) the file and it will extract the song.  If a password is required, it will be in the name of the downloaded file.  Enjoy!

(*If you use Mac or Linux, you can get the program needed to extract the file from here.) 

 

MICROSOFT HAS YOU.

 

There has been a great deal of controversy over the last few weeks regarding Google's changes to their Privacy Policy and their Terms and Conditions, by which anyone using their products are now bound.  Close family members of mine have closed their Google accounts completely, and refuse to use Google's search engine, GMail or YouTube going forward because of this.

As for myself, I actually read through all Google's new terms, conditions and privacy policies, and with the exception of some questionable copyright grants you make to Google, I wasn't terribly disturbed by anything I'd read.  (I actually have an annotated copy of those Ts & Cs which I may post at a later date.)  But for today's exercise, as one family member sought Microsoft as a safe haven against Google, I've decided to post Microsoft's privacy policy with my own annotations and emphasis added.  For your viewing pleasure.

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Here are the privacy terms you are under by using MSN.com:  http://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/default.mspx  WHEREIN it states:

"Scope

This notice provides highlights of the full Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. This notice and the full privacy statement apply to those Microsoft Web sites and services that display or link to this notice."  ("Those Microsoft Web sites" meaning MSN.com and other Microsoft services, such as Hotmail. -- SG)

Upon clicking on that full privacy statement here: http://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/fullnotice.mspx you find the following (emphasis added):

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Collection of Your Personal Information

We collect information as part of operating our Websites and services.

•    At some Microsoft sites, we ask you to provide personal information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address, or telephone number. We may also collect demographic information, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites. If you choose to make a purchase or sign up for a paid subscription service, we will ask for additional information, such as your credit card number and billing address.

•    In order to access some Microsoft services, you will be asked to sign in with an e-mail address and password, which we refer to as your Windows Live ID. By signing in on one Microsoft site or service, you may be automatically signed into other Microsoft sites and services that use Windows Live ID. For more information, see the Windows Live ID privacy supplement. (This is a separate Terms and Conditions document -- SG.)

•    We collect additional information about your interaction with Microsoft sites and services without identifying you as an individual. (This is the same as Google. -- SG.) For example, we receive certain standard information that your browser sends to every website you visit, such as your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring Web site addresses. We also use Web site analytics tools on our sites to retrieve information from your browser, including the site you came from, the search engine(s) and the keywords you used to find our site, the pages you view within our site, your browser add-ons, and your browser's width and height.

•    We use technologies, such as cookies and web beacons (described below), to collect information about the pages you view (including non-Microsoft sites -- SG), the links you click and other actions you take on our sites and services.

•    We also deliver advertisements (see the Display of Advertising section below) and provide Web site analytics tools on non-Microsoft sites and services, and we collect information about page views on these third party sites as well.

•    When you receive newsletters or promotional e-mail from Microsoft, we may use web beacons (described below), customized links or similar technologies to determine whether the e-mail has been opened and which links you click in order to provide you more focused e-mail communications or other information.

In order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with Microsoft, information collected through one Microsoft service may be combined with information obtained through other Microsoft services. We may also supplement the information we collect with information obtained from other companies. For example, we may use services from other companies that enable us to derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.

Use of Your Personal Information

Microsoft collects and uses your personal information to operate and improve its sites and services. These uses include providing you with more effective customer service; making the sites or services easier to use by eliminating the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information; performing research and analysis aimed at improving our products, services and technologies; and displaying content and advertising that are customized to your interests and preferences. For more information about the use of information for advertising, see the Display of Advertising section below.

We also use your personal information to communicate with you. We may send certain mandatory service communications such as welcome letters, billing reminders, information on technical service issues, and security announcements. Some Microsoft services, such as Windows Live Hotmail, may send periodic member letters that are considered part of the service. Additionally, with your permission, we may also occasionally send you product surveys or promotional mailings to inform you of other products or services available from Microsoft and its affiliates, and/or share your personal information with Microsoft partners so they may send you information about their products and services. You can opt-out from receiving newsletters or promotional e-mail anytime by using this web form or by following the steps as described in the respective newsletter or promotional e-mail.

Personal information collected on Microsoft sites and services may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries or service providers maintain facilities. (This is the same as Google -- SG.) Microsoft abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.

Sharing of Your Personal Information

Except as described in this statement, we will not disclose your personal information outside of Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your consent. Some Microsoft sites allow you to choose to share your personal information with select Microsoft partners so that they can contact you about their products, services or offers. Other sites, such as MSN instead may give you a separate choice as to whether you wish to receive communications from Microsoft about a partner's particular offering (without transferring your personal information to the third party). See the Communication Preferences section below for more information.

Some Microsoft services are co-branded by Microsoft and another company (partner). If you register to or use such a service, both a Microsoft privacy statement and the partner’s privacy statement may be displayed. If so, both Microsoft and the partner will receive information you provide such as on registration forms.

Microsoft occasionally hires other companies (vendor) to provide limited services on our behalf, such as handling the processing and delivery of mailings, providing customer support, hosting websites, processing transactions, or performing statistical analysis of our services. Those service providers will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver the service. They are required to maintain the confidentiality of the information and are prohibited from using it for any other purpose than for delivering the service to Microsoft in accordance with Microsoft’s instructions and policies. (Microsoft has no direct control of this. Those third party "vendors" have access to your information and neither you nor Microsoft have control of how they use it. In fact, you may actually be bound by separate Terms and Conditions of those third party "vendors." -- SG) However, our vendors may use aggregate data for fraud detection to help improve their services. This helps them to more accurately detect fraudulent transactions. We may access or disclose information about you, including the content of your communications (e.g., your Hotmail emails -- SG), in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the services; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers or the public. ("(c)" has no legal meaning. It, in essence, says "as Microsoft deems necessary." -- SG)  We may also disclose personal information as part of a corporate transaction such as a merger or sale of assets.

Accessing Your Personal Information

Some Microsoft services give you the ability to view or edit your personal information online. To help prevent your personal information from being viewed by others, you first will be required to sign in. The method(s) for accessing your personal information will depend on which sites or services you have used.

•    Microsoft.com - You can access and update your profile on microsoft.com by visiting the Microsoft.com Profile Center.

•    Microsoft Billing and Account Services - If you have a Microsoft Billing account, you can add to or update your information at the Microsoft Billing Web site by clicking on the "Personal Information" or "Billing Information" links.

•    Microsoft Connect - If you are a registered user of Microsoft Connect, you can access and edit your personal information by clicking Manage Your Connect Profile at the Microsoft Connect Web site.

•    Windows Live - If you have used Windows Live services, you can update your profile information, change your password, view the unique ID associated with your credentials, or close certain accounts by visiting Windows Live Account Services.  (I believe this includes Hotmail and SkyDrive. -- SG)

•    Windows Live Public Profile - If you have created a public profile on Windows Live, you may also edit or delete information in your public profile by going to your Windows Live profile.

•    Search Advertising - If you buy search advertising through Microsoft Advertising, you can review and edit your personal information at the Microsoft adCenter Web site.

•    Microsoft Partner Programs - If you are registered with Microsoft Partner Programs, you can review and edit your profile by clicking Manage Your Account on the Partner Program Web site.

•    Xbox - If you are a Xbox LIVE or Xbox.com user, you can view or edit your personal information, including billing and account information, privacy settings, online safety and data sharing preferences by accessing My Xbox on the Xbox 360 console or on the Xbox.com website. For account information select My Xbox, Accounts. For other personal information settings, select My Xbox, Profile then Online Safety Settings.

•    Zune - If you have a Zune account or a Zune Pass subscription, you can view and edit your personal information at Zune.net (sign in, access your Zune tag then My Account or through the Zune software, (sign in, access your Zune tag, then select Zune.net profile.)"

In case you cannot access personal data collected by Microsoft sites or services via the links above, these sites and services may provide you with alternative means of access to your data. In any case, you can contact Microsoft by using the web form.

Communication Preferences

You can stop the delivery of future promotional e-mail from Microsoft sites and services by following the specific instructions in the e-mail you receive.

Depending on the respective service, you may also have the option of proactively making choices about the receipt of promotional e-mail, telephone calls, and postal mail from particular Microsoft sites or services by visiting and signing into the following pages:

•    The Microsoft.com Profile Center allows you to choose whether you wish to receive marketing communications from Microsoft.com, to select whether Microsoft.com may share your contact information with selected third parties, and to subscribe or unsubscribe to newsletters about our products and services.

•    The MSN & Windows Live Communications Preferences page allows you to choose whether you wish to receive marketing material from MSN or Windows Live. You may subscribe and unsubscribe to MSN Newsletters by going to the MSN Newsletters website.

•    If you have an Xbox.com or Xbox LIVE account, you can set your contact preferences and choose whether to share your contact information with Xbox partners by accessing My Xbox on the Xbox 360 console or on the Xbox.com website. To access these settings on the Xbox.com website, select My Xbox, Profile then Contact Preferences. On the Xbox 360 console, select My Xbox, Profile then Online Safety.

•    If you are registered with Microsoft Partner Programs, you can set your contact preferences or choose to share your contact information with other Microsoft partners by clicking Manage Your Account on the Partner Program Web site.

•    If you have a Zune account or a Zune Pass subscription, you can set your contact preferences and choose whether to share your contact information with Zune partners at Zune.net (sign in, access your Zune tag then My Account, Newsletter options or through the Zune software (sign in, access your Zune tag, then select Zune.net profile.)

In any case, you can inform Microsoft by using this web form about your wish to stop the delivery of future promotional e-mail. These choices do not apply to the display of online advertising: please refer to the section “Display of Advertising (Opt-out)” for information on this matter. Nor do they apply to the receipt of mandatory service communications that are considered part of certain Microsoft services, which you may receive periodically unless you cancel the service. 

Display of Advertising (Opt-Out)

Many of our Web sites and online services are supported by advertising.

Most of the online advertisements on Microsoft sites are displayed by Microsoft Advertising. When we display online advertisements to you, we will place one or more persistent cookies on your computer in order to recognize your computer each time we display an ad to you. Because we serve advertisements on our own websites as well as those of our advertising and publisher partners, we are able to compile information over time about the types of pages, content and ads you, or others who are using your computer, visited or viewed. This information is used for many purposes, for example, it helps us try to ensure that you do not see the same advertisements over and over again. We also use this information to help select and display targeted advertisements that we believe may be of interest to you.

You may opt-out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our opt-out page. For more information about how Microsoft Advertising collects and uses information, please see the Microsoft Advertising Privacy Supplement.  (Again, this is a separate Terms and Conditions document -- SG.)

We also allow third-party ad companies, including other ad networks, to display advertisements on our sites. In some cases, these third parties may also place cookies on your computer. These companies currently include, but are not limited to: 24/7 Real Media, aCerno,Inc, AdBlade, AdConion, AdFusion, Advertising.com, AppNexus, Bane Media, Brand.net, CasaleMedia, Collective Media, Fox Interactive, Interclick, Millennial, PrecisionClick, ROI Media, Social Media, SpecificMedia, TrafficMarketplace, Tribal Fusion, ValueClick, Yahoo!, YuMe, and Zumobi. These companies may offer you a way to opt-out of ad targeting based on their cookies. You may find more information by clicking on the company names above and following the links to the Web sites of each company. Many of them are also members of the Network Advertising Initiative or the Digital Advertising Alliance, which each provide a simple way to opt-out of ad targeting from participating companies. 

Security of Your Personal Information

Microsoft is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For example, we store the personal information we collect on computer systems with limited access, which are located in controlled facilities. When we transmit highly confidential information (such as a credit card number or password) over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

If a password is used to help protect your accounts and personal information, it is your responsibility to keep your password confidential. Do not share this information with anyone. If you are sharing a computer with anyone you should always log out before leaving a site or service to protect access to your information from subsequent users. 

Collection and Use of Children's Personal Information

Many Microsoft sites and services are intended for general audiences and do not knowingly collect any personal information from children. When a Microsoft site does collect age information, and users identify themselves as under 13, the site will either block such users from providing personal information, or will seek to obtain consent from parents for the collection, use and sharing of their children's personal information. We will not knowingly ask children under the age of 13 to provide more information than is reasonably necessary to provide our services.

Please note that if you grant consent for your child to use Microsoft services, this will include such general audience communication services as e-mail, instant messaging, and online groups, and your child will be able to communicate with, and disclose personal information to, other users of all ages. Parents can change or revoke the consent choices previously made, and review, edit or request the deletion of their children's personal information. For example, on MSN and Windows Live, parents can visit Account Services, and click on “Permission for kids.” If we change this privacy statement in a way that expands the collection, use or disclosure of children's personal information to which a parent has previously consented, the parent will be notified and we will be required to obtain the parent's additional consent.

If you have an MSN Premium, MSN Plus, or MSN 9 Dial-Up account, and use MSN Client software version 9.5 or below, you can choose to set up MSN Parental Controls for the other users of that account. Please read the supplemental privacy information for MSN for further information.

We encourage you to talk with your children about communicating with strangers and disclosing personal information online. You and your child can visit our online safety resources for additional information about using the Internet safely. 

Use of Cookies

Most Microsoft Web sites use "cookies," which are small text files placed on your hard disk by a Web server. Cookies contain information that can later be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to store your preferences and other information on your computer in order to save you time by eliminating the need to repeatedly enter the same information and to display your personalized content and targeted advertising on your later visits to these sites. Microsoft Web sites also use cookies as described in the Display of Advertising sections of this privacy statement.

When you sign in to a site using your Windows Live ID, we store your unique ID number, and the time you signed in, in an encrypted cookie on your hard disk. (This is interesting to note. When Microsoft, Google, Yahoo or another company says they do not store personally identifying information about you, this is technically true. However, this unique ID means they can track you specifically across many sites. And since they may also have a database with your personal information that they can "cross-reference" to this unique ID, they can in fact personally identify you. -- SG)  This cookie allows you to move from page to page at the site without having to sign in again on each page. When you sign out, these cookies are deleted from your computer. We also use cookies to improve the sign in experience. For example, your e-mail address may be stored in a cookie that will remain on your computer after you sign out. This cookie allows your e-mail address to be pre-populated, so that you will only need to type your password the next time you sign in. If you are using a public computer or do not otherwise want this information to be stored, you can select the appropriate radio button on the sign-in page, and this cookie will not be used.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to sign in or use other interactive features of Microsoft sites and services that depend on cookies, and some advertising preferences that are dependent on cookies may not be able to be respected.

If you choose to accept cookies, you also have the ability to later delete cookies that you have accepted. For example, in Internet Explorer 8, you can delete cookies by selecting “Tools”, “Delete browsing history”. Then select the control box “Cookies" and click the “Delete” button. If you choose to delete cookies, any settings and preferences controlled by those cookies, including advertising preferences, will be deleted and may need to be recreated. 

Use of Web Beacons

Microsoft Web pages may contain electronic images known as Web beacons - sometimes called single-pixel gifs - that may be used to assist in delivering cookies on our sites and allow us to count users who have visited those pages and to deliver co-branded services. We may include Web beacons in promotional e-mail messages or our newsletters in order to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon.

Microsoft may also employ Web beacons from third parties in order to help us compile aggregated statistics regarding the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns or other operations of our sites. We prohibit Web beacons on our sites from being used by third parties to collect or access your personal information.

Finally, we may work with other companies that advertise on Microsoft sites to place Web beacons on their sites in order to allow us to develop statistics on how often clicking on an advertisement on a Microsoft site results in a purchase or other action on the advertiser's site. 

Controlling Unsolicited E-mail ("Spam")

Microsoft is concerned about controlling unsolicited commercial e-mail, or "spam." Microsoft has a strict Anti-Spam Policy prohibiting the use of a Windows Live Hotmail or other Microsoft-provided e-mail account to send spam. Microsoft will not sell, lease or rent its e-mail subscriber lists to third parties. . While Microsoft continues to actively review and implement new technology, such as expanded filtering features, there is no technology that will totally prevent the sending and receiving of unsolicited e-mail. Using junk e-mail tools and being cautious about the sharing of your e-mail address while online will help reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mail you receive. 

TRUSTe Certification

Microsoft has been awarded TRUSTe's Privacy Seal signifying that this privacy statement and our practices have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTe's program requirements including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information. The TRUSTe program does not cover information that may be collected through downloadable software. TRUSTe's mission, as an independent third party, is to accelerate online trust among consumers and organizations globally through its leading privacy trustmark and innovative trust solutions. 

Enforcement of This Privacy Statement

If you have questions regarding this statement, you should first contact us by using our Web form. If you do not receive acknowledgement of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php. TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with Microsoft to resolve your concerns. 

Changes to This Privacy Statement

We will occasionally update this privacy statement to reflect changes in our services and customer feedback. When we post changes to this Statement, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this statement. If there are material changes to this statement or in how Microsoft will use your personal information, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes prior to implementing the change or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how Microsoft is protecting your information.