We have heard about Google and Apple getting sued for tracking their users' locations and now it's Microsoft's turn. According to the
reports, a US woman has sued the company for illegally tracking her movements. The woman claimed that though Windows Phone 7 has a feature that allows you to turn off location tracking, but it still keep tracking the location. Telecom companies had always been accused of spying on their users. However, in this case, users are given a choice to get out of the net and their choice is completely ignored. Now, talk about rubbing salt into the wounds.
Apparently, the problem starts when you initiate the use of camera on your Windows Phone 7 handset. The programs asks you whether you would like to use the geolocation tracking feature. But, don't worry, it really doesn't matter which choice you make, because the program would start recording your locational data anyways. In fact, later it was found that the offence actually starts even before you pick your option about getting tracked.
Microsoft is now accused of transmitting location and other identifying data without users content. Among identifying data, it transmits device ID number, device's model number along with date and time data. It also collects your latitude and longitude data. So all in all, Microsoft does a fairly thorough job of spying on its unsuspecting users.
The above saga runs completely counter to the claims made by Microsoft during Apple Location-tracking controversy. At that time, Microsoft had announced that WP7 will never collect any such data without obtaining the explicit approval of its users. Microsoft has not issued any statement on the latest development as yet.