Privacy Statement for Flight Simulator Features

Published: August 2006

At Microsoft, we're working hard to protect your privacy, while delivering products that bring you the
performance, power, and convenience you desire in your personal computing. This privacy statement
explains the data collection and use practices of Flight Simulator’s features that send information to and
from the Internet. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list. It does not apply to other online or offline
Microsoft sites, products, or services.

Information storage, processing, and release

Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft may be stored and processed in the United States or
any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities. 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 Union. Microsoft may disclose information about
you if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to
the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Microsoft or the site; (b) protect or defend
the rights or property of Microsoft and its family of websites; or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect
the personal safety of Microsoft employees, users of Microsoft software or services, or members of the
public.

Microsoft occasionally hires other companies to provide limited services on its behalf, such as providing
customer support, processing transactions, or performing statistical analysis of reports. Microsoft will
provide these companies only the 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.

Collection and use of information about your computer

This software contains certain Internet-enabled features that collect standard information from your
computer ("standard computer information") and might collect additional information needed for a
specific feature and send it to Microsoft. Standard computer information generally includes such
information as your Internet Protocol (IP) address; operating system version; browser version; your
hardware ID, which indicates the device manufacturer, device name, and version; and your regional and
language settings. The privacy details for each feature listed in this privacy statement will disclose whether
any additional information is collected and how it is used, if the feature sends information to Microsoft.

Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft may be stored and processed in the United States or
any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities.

Security practices

Microsoft is committed to protecting the security of your information. We use a variety of security
technologies and procedures to help protect your information from unauthorized access, use, or
disclosure. For example, we store the information you provide on computer servers with limited access
that are located in controlled facilities.
Activation

What this feature does

Activation is aimed at reducing software counterfeiting and ensuring that Microsoft customers receive the
software quality that they expect. Once your software is activated, a specific product key becomes
associated with the computer (the hardware) on which it is installed. After association is completed, that
product key cannot be used for activation on other computers.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

During activation of this software, product key information is sent to Microsoft along with a hardware
hash (a non-unique number generated from the computer's hardware configuration). The hardware hash
does not represent any personal information or information about the software. The hardware hash
cannot be used to determine the make or model of the computer, nor can it be backward-calculated to
determine the raw computer information. Along with standard computer information, some additional
language settings are collected. This information is not used to identify you.

Use of information

The information is used only to confirm that you have a licensed copy of the software, and is aggregated
for statistical analysis.

Mandatory activation

Activation is mandatory for full enjoyment of this software. If you choose not to activate the software,
your ability to use the software for extended periods will be limited.

Microsoft Error Reporting Service

Why does Microsoft collect information about errors and problems?

The information helps Microsoft diagnose problems in the software you use and provide solutions. Not all
problems have solutions, but when solutions are available, they are offered as steps to solve a problem
you’ve reported or as updates to install. As part of setup and installation, the Microsoft Error Reporting
Service sends back information about setup or installation failures in order to attempt to diagnose the
problem. To help prevent problems and make software more reliable, some solutions are also included in
service packs and future versions of the software.

How is information collected?

Many Microsoft software programs, including this one, are designed to work with the reporting service. If
a problem occurs in one of these software programs, you are asked if you want to send a report to check
for a solution. You can view the details of the report before sending it, although some files might not be
in a readable format.

What types of information can be collected?

Reports contain information that is most useful for diagnosing and solving the problem that has occurred,
such as:

 Where the problem happened in the software or hardware. Occasionally, empty files
might be included as an initial indication of a problem.

 The type or severity of the problem, if known.

 Files that help describe the problem (typically, system or report-generated files about
software behavior before or after the problem occurred).

 Basic software and hardware information (such as operating system version and
language, device models and manufacturers, or memory and hard disk size).

Reports might unintentionally contain personal information, but this information is not used to identify
you or contact you. If you are concerned that a report might contain personal or confidential information,
you should not send the report.

Who can use the information and how can it be used?

Microsoft uses information about errors and problems to improve its software. Microsoft employees,
contractors, vendors, and partners may be provided access to information collected by the reporting
service. However, they may use the information only to repair or improve the products that they publish
or manufacture.

For example, if an error report indicates that a third-party product or feature is involved, Microsoft may
send that information to the vendor of the product or feature. The vendor may provide the information to
sub-vendors and partners; however, all parties must abide by the terms of this privacy statement.

To improve the products that run on Microsoft software, Microsoft may share aggregate information
about errors and problems. Aggregate information is used for statistical analysis and does not contain
specific information from individual reports, nor does it include any personal or confidential information
that may have been collected from a report.

About surveys and report tracking

After you report a problem, you might be asked to complete a survey about the error experience. If you
choose to provide a phone number or e-mail address in response to the survey, your error report will no
longer be anonymous. Microsoft may contact you to request additional information to help solve the
problem you reported.

To view your problem history or check for new solutions, go to Problem Reports and Solutions in Control
Panel or see Help and Support for more information.
FSInsider

What this feature does

FSInsider is the official Flight Simulator web site (http://www.fsinsider.com). This site is hosted inside
the software but can also be accessed using your browser.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

For information about the information collected, processed or transmitted by FSInsider please click on the
privacy statement link on that site.

Real World Weather

What this feature does

Our real world weather feature allows you to download a snapshot of worldwide weather conditions for
your virtual location within the Flight Simulator world.

Information, collected, processed or transmitted

If you choose to activate this feature, it will send information about your virtual location to our third party
vendor who will process that data to retrieve real world weather conditions for your virtual location. If you
choose the updating option, this process will occur every 15 minutes. No identifying information is used to
identify you in connection with your virtual location.

Use of information

Information collected is used to provide this service and may be aggregated to provide statistical analysis to
improve this and similar software and features.

Choice and control

It is your choice to use this feature. If you decide to use automatic update for this feature but later change your
mind, you may deactivate this feature at any time by changing your weather options.

For more information

If you have questions about this privacy statement, please contact us by submitting your questions online
to Privacy Feedback by using our Web form : https://support.microsoft.com/common/survey.aspx?
scid=sw;en;1310&showpage=1&ws=1prcen .

Or by postal mail:

Privacy Statement for Flight Simulator Features