It seems that our dear friends at [tag]Microsoft[/tag] continue to spy on us. It is all in our best interest, of course, so that the company can give us what they think we need. (Tongue firmly implanted in cheek.)

I’m joining in the latest rant on Microsoft’s “[tag]Windows Genuine Advantage[/tag],” [tag]spyware[/tag] that Microsoft touts as an [tag]anti-piracy[/tag] program. This article from eWeek.com provides all the gory details, but I’ll summarize here.

Basically, the first time you use Windows XP, Microsoft gathers your product key, PC manufacturer, operating system version, PC BIOS information, and user locale setting and language. Microsoft says that they can’t identify people or programs they’re using.

Every time you fire up your computer, though, Microsoft is gathering more information from you. This has been going on for the last year without the knowledge of users. And imagine that this sneaky little program has been going undetected by firewalls. Don’t you wonder why Microsoft had to be so sneaky about it?

If the program is so harmless, why didn’t Microsoft tell us about it? Here’s an interesting commentary on the whole issue, and it certainly doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy. As users of Microsoft products, we really don’t have the ability to opt-out of these spyware programs.