Windows 8: Windows Media Player spies on you

Do you know Windows Media Player in Windows 8 spies on you? WMP’s online privacy statement mentioned it clearly that Windows Media Player will send information about every single file, i.e. song, movie or any extension that you ever play to Microsoft. However, you may change the settings whether to share it with Microsoft or not.

While this news may affect every user in different ways, it is obvious that some users must be feeling it a hole into their privacy. You may or may not care if Microsoft is spying on your activities or not. Well, you may take a few measures if you do not want Microsoft to receive the information of what you are playing on Windows Media Player by changing your privacy settings.

It has been noted that Windows Media Player will not be retrieving artist, artwork, album art and other details of a file from the Internet in case Microsoft does not get the information of what you are playing. Below is a little though useful information about the 'Privacy tab' options:

[On Windows Media Player, Go to 'Organize' >> Click on 'Options' from the drop-down menu >> Go to 'Privacy Tab' ]

• Display Media Information from the Internet: Selecting this option makes Windows Media Player to send information of what you are playing to Microsoft, and displays the related CD covers, song/track details etc on-screen.
• Update Music Files by Retrieving Media Info from the Internet: It updates the information and tags of a song/file (if recognizes any), that is examined by Microsoft and hence requires a working and active internet connection.
• Send Unique Player ID to Content Providers: Selecting this option lets other corporations from where the data is being displayed or updated to track your unique player ID and hence usage of your Windows Media Player. It is recommended to leave it deselected to escape from being tracked or noted in their databases.
• Cookies: As an Internet browser and other programs, Windows Media Player also weaves the traces of your activity into cookies. However, cookies if enabled on Windows Media Player are nothing bad as it helps the player to keep track of your preferences in its memory.
• History: It plays an important role is memorizing and displaying the recently played tracks (files-audio/video). If you don’t want your colleagues, co-workers, family members, friends etc to know what were you playing, then deselect all the boxes out there. (Also click the buttons- ‘Clear History’ and ‘Clear Cache’ to ensure you are successfully deleted the old history and cache as well).

By making these changes in 'Privacy' tab, you can decide to let Windows Media player spy on you or not.