http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/globe_tech/upgrade/2001/0726.html

A Passport to disaster

By Hiawatha Bray

Last week, I griped about my growing dislike for the all-devouring appetite of Microsoft Corp. Turns out I'm not the only Microsoft sympathizer who feels this way.

US Senator Charles Schumer, who used to argue that Microsoft deserved a good leaving-alone, has now come out in favor of delaying the release of the upcoming Windows XP operating system. Schumer worries that the software's features will devastate rival software makers, in the same way that Microsoft's Web browser smashed the opposition. Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold hearings next month on the perils of XP. And privacy advocates have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission asking that agency to slam the brakes on the scheduled October release of XP.

The anti-XP gripes are many and varied, but the most serious one involves Microsoft's plan to build in a feature called Passport that could let the company collect large amounts of data about millions of computer users worldwide. Never mind any suspicions about Microsoft's nefarious motives for building dossiers on all of us. It's enough to recall that this is a company that can't even write a reasonably secure e-mail program.

As you read this, computers all over the world are being infected by yet another "worm," a program written specifically to attack Microsoft Outlook. Outlook is the distillation of Microsoft's best and worst traits. It's the best all-around personal organizer and e-mail program, so complete that you can practically build your life around it. It's also so easily subverted by worms and viruses that a new outbreak seems to sweep across the planet every couple of months. I'm none too eager to give my credit card data to the same people who exposed us to the I Love You virus.

And yet, the basic idea behind Passport is essential, if we want the full benefit of a networked world. The setup of the computer at a public Internet terminal is entirely different from the machine on my desk. But it needn't be. A network service could detect my log-on name,and automatically upload my unique set of computing services, right down to the bookmarks in the Web browser. This would be made possible by a central directory, where all of my preferences are safely stored. Log on from any machine, and it becomes your machine.

Microsoft certainly didn't think of this concept. Its old browser rival Netscape was working on it right up to the time Microsoft clobbered the company. And a couple of years ago, I sang the praises of Novell Inc.'s Digital Me, an early effort to deliver this service to the consumer desktop. Users provided heaps of personal data; in exchange, Digital Me offered them the ability to share that data with any Internet site, without the need to log onto each one separately. Novell's core network operating system market has fallen on hard times, mainly because customers are opting for Windows or Linux alternatives. That deprived Digital Me of the support that might have made it a serious competitor to Passport.

Perhaps the best part of Digital Me was that Novell simply wanted to sell the technology to other companies. You wouldn't share your personal info with Novell, but with, say, your bank, which already knows the story of your life. For a monthly fee, the bank would provide your information to the online services of your choice -- a sound combination of convenience and privacy.

Microsoft being Microsoft, it wants to control the data as well as the software used to store it. That's a big mistake, one that could end up keeping Windows XP off the market.

Instead, Microsoft should voluntarily retreat from the information-gathering business. The company can earn a pretty penny by selling the Passport software to other companies, which would actually operate the databases.

Last month, Microsoft president Steve Ballmer said he'd be willing to allow other companies to operate Passport databases, in competition with Microsoft. He ought to go further, and declare that Microsoft won't collect personal information at all, but merely sell the software that makes Passport work. Otherwise, the company may not be allowed to sell its new software at all.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Answers

"The anti-XP gripes are many and varied, but the most serious one involves Microsoft's plan to build in a feature called Passport that could let the company collect large amounts of data about millions of computer users worldwide. Never mind any suspicions about Microsoft's nefarious motives for building dossiers on all of us. It's enough to recall that this is a company that can't even write a reasonably secure e-mail program."

Hmm, I don't like that one bit.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001