Microsoft monitoring, censoring SkyDrive uploads?

February 2, 2011 | By Surur

aachener_zeitung_dirk_salm_htc_hd7

A German photographer has run afoul of Microsoft’s Skydrive terms and conditions over 4 photos of partial nudes he took with his HTC HD7 and which was uploaded to Skydrive and which he believed to be private.

He found, without explanation, he suddenly had limited access to his account, and when he enquired to the problem with Microsoft, was told "four photos, in one of his albums violated, Microsoft’s terms of use – because of nudity", and he had 48 hours to delete these or else Microsoft would close his account.

The story has gathered some press in Germany, and Microsoft said they would investigate the issue.

It does however raise serious privacy concerns, especially with photos automatically being uploaded to Skydrive. Clearly users should be careful to make sure their mobile uploads are set to private on Skydrive (Skydrive.com >Profile Privacy settings > Advanced, setting your photo options to Just Me for maximum security) but it remains disconcerting to know even then some-one at Microsoft may be monitoring our uploads.

Are any of our readers concerned by this development? Let us know below.

Via the::unwired.net

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged microsoft, SkyDrive, windows phone 7

http://twitter.com/counterblow @counterblow

wow. Time to get my photos off of sky drive.

http://www.facebook.com/wixostrix Edwin Michael Rodriguez-Duplesis

People are probably going to go into a panic for nothing. No one is looking at pictures, it's all automated software that can detect nudity. Also, this isn't the first time we've seen issues in Germany and personal content (ie that whole youtube thing). We should wait to see Microsoft's response after their so called "investigation"

danielgr

Indeed, when you see what they can do nowadays to automatically recognize thousands of faces in your photos I don't think it's difficult to automate the process for nudity.

It actually surprises me to find people thinking Microsoft is as dumb as dedicating their resources to have people checking the millions of photos that their customers upload every day… Like if they had nothing better to spend their money on …
andrewbares

So technically, Microsoft could use their automated software to automatically create a collection of nude pictures for their own viewing pleasure?

Just kidding hehe. You're absolutely right though, there's no need to panic.

xma1e

I don't have them on skydrive, but was planning to as a method of storage. Obviously skydrive is not a secure private space MS suggest it is.

People should be concerned, not because of nudity but because of MS applying censorship. I would be suprised if someone wasn't viewing peoples pictures. Only part of it would be automated, there would still be a person to check to see what the actual picture was that had been flagged up by the system.

As a photographer, I find this very disapointing, ones persons nudity is another art. Not everything is smutty.

aschettler9376

Try DeviantArt instead.

Also, Microsoft HAS a Terms of Service agreement that MUST be agreed to before using their site. Same with every single other site out there. This is to protect THEM from liability should someone upload illegal or otherwise obscene content. EVERY site does this. You post something that violates the TOS, they have the right to either A) remove the content, or B) terminate your access to the site. The fact that everybody is freaking out over this is just sad.

Eric

Are you saying that someone at Microsoft is checking at users' photos. This is a real shame and a serious violation of private life.

It also means that you shall never user Skydrive to upload confidential or business documents. Thanks, I cannot trust the cloud anymore.

http://twitter.com/AaronCT123 @AaronCT123

I highly doubt they have a team of people clicking through photos all day.
Batterbatter

Paranonia. Really, the govt doesn't have ufo secrets and MS doesn't have a team dedicated to this. This is the least of the MS concerns. They have real competition in apple and goog and we're to believe there's money for a team to do something that would be a messy PR self inflicted wound?
Travis

Wellllllllllllll if you set your album to PUBLIC then anyone can read it and you're naive if think people won't just look at your random photos. To be honest I've gone through random album on photobucket a few times because I've been bored I lost interest after a minute, but yeah that it the problem with people not taking responsibilities by setting there stuff to PRIVATE.

Seriously MSFT shouldn't be looking at your photos. If you set it to PUBLIC you should assume creeps are fapping to them now. Grow a brain and set it to PRIVATE. That was the first thing I did with mine. I looked how to set it to private.

Kevin

Woooowww this is crazy and I really get second thoughts about skydrive… I find i very useable so all my document/photos are synced on multiple computers/laptops and sometimes (A) there are dirty pictures (exgirls etc) So this is not good :O
andrewbares

That's why I turned off automatic pic uploading… could lead to some awkward pics lol
Roblo

This is not good at all, especially people using these to upload confidential documentation to their Skydrive.

andrewbares

Like Google Docs?

GP007

I doubt there's some guy looking at what you upload, MS has automatec pic scanning, like face recog etc that can probably automatically detect nudity in pics as they're sent up. Privacy would come into play if someone was actually looking into all your private pics, but I really doubt that's the case.

Besides, if the ToS say no nudity then no nudity, MS doesn't want skydrive to be a cloud based pr0n distro, but I could be wrong.

xma1e

Hmmm, I would expect a program to flag up suspect images, they still have to be viewed to confirm nudity. No program is that sophicated and most face recognistion technology can be fooled.

Most the comments here are assuming it's smutt and not art. Many of the classic painting and photographs would fall foul of this policy.
http://www.thelifepurposecoach.com Manu

Yup that's it, it's software that scans for such photos!

mamacita42

not that i would want this but remember the days when you dropped off film to be developed? uhhhh the developers saw all your pics lol

http://twitter.com/AaronCT123 @AaronCT123

Thank you! That is such a good comparison.

Arturo Bandini

Pictures is one thing. But the fact that Microsoft could check into some business documents is a bigger concern.

efjay

Same way google could if they are sent via gmail. And the same way youtube will give you a warning when you upload a video with a soundtrack using a commercial song. As GP007 says, its an automated scanning process that has flagged these pictures, but I think they were more than just "partial" nudity. With over 300 million Hotmail users all with Skydrive access its hard to believe this is the first this something like this has happened.

xma1e

I doubt microsoft would be saying "remove it" without first viewing the image. Automated systems can only flag up suspect images, the final desicion has to made by a human.

Personally I dont see the point of dropbox or sjydrive if there is any restriction ont he type of data stored there. It's for personal consumption and therefor meant to be private.

What will they police next? Harsh word in your Word documents?

yss

DropBox says no porn also. Someone should test them and see if the same happens.

lkl

Can you do it for us because you thought of it first.?

Bob

This doesn't prove people are snooping your files. There are probably multiple things that can flag a photo on skydrive. As mentioned previously, automated software can identify nudity. If hundreds of people download a photo, that would probably raise a flag also.
omz9

Come on who are we kidding. I hate to use this analogy, but tap water contain trace amounts of everything from pesticides to drugs to chemicals of all kinds, point being that when you leave the option open for every one to dump their stuff out there – they will. Without regrets or limitations. Why should MS be responsible for child porn and all kinds of evil for example being stored on its servers.
And who is to think that our digital information is not being looked at whether its Homeland, Interpol, FBI, Big Brother, Felix the Cat, Betty Boop whoever. Who is to think that Google after the wi-fi scandal they went through doesnt analyze and record every piece of data from our email, to youtube, to picasa, to all their services for the sake of search optimization and data hogging. The Digital Age should be called the Invisible Iron Fist.

xma1e

I think the real issue is what MS did next! Moral police? It's one thing to look and another to act.

aschettler9376

If you have something that violates their Terms of Service agreement, they have the right to either A) remove the offending content, or B) terminate your access to the service. That's not morality, that's legality, A.K.A. covering their asses if someone posts something that could get them in trouble. ALL sites have these kinds of agreements. Don't you think that if you ran a service like this, you would want to cover your ass too?

zzz

It's not people looking at your photos. They have software doing that stuff. Happens with Youtube and Bing/Google image search as well. How do you think they implement the adult content filtering?

The last place I want to place my sensitive docs and photos is places like Dropbox and various online drives where 20 something kids are running the show and the company is so small and have not much to lose. I would feel safer with a big corp like MS.
tombow

Tonight, I'm going to test Skydive. I have several nude pics of me and my x, I'm going to upload a few of those and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

andrewbares

Lol
David

Can you post the result?

schultzycom

I cannot imagine Microsoft having people sit there and look at each photo, they have software. Also how do we know his privacy settings for his photo's was not set to public. Think of the problem had Microsoft allowed such photo's where anyone could look at them.
whyjoe

It doesn't matter if the TOS scan is automated or not, or really what the TOS is for the SkyDrive service, because this is a Windows Phone issue. WIndows Phone ships with auto-upload TURNED ON. In practice, this means Microsoft's policy is: "By default, you are prohibited from using your Windows Phone to take nude photographs of yourself or other consenting adults. You must change a non-obvious setting which does not mention privacy or nudity on the label in order to gain this priveledge."

When linking these services together and turning on auto-upload by default, Microsoft gained the responsibility of ensuring that their TOS for the SkyDrive service was in line with HOW PEOPLE WOULD EXPECT a photo system on their private phone to work. To avoid this, they could have:
1. turned off skydrive integration by default; or,
2. including a pop-up the first time a photo is uploaded from the phone warning the user that their photos, even if private, are subject to other TOS including a prohibition against nudes and give the user the option to disable the uploads then.

Razorfold

Um no it doesn't. After you take your first picture it asks you if you want to upload to skydrive or not.

whyjoe

Okay, I stand corrected, it asks you the first time you upload a photo. So Microsoft already has a perfect opportunity to warn the user there that once they agree, all the photos snapped with their device will be subject to SkyDrive's automated monitoring for TOS compliance including nudity. You really need to call that out though, since people take lots of pictures with their phones.

Brian

Seriously, a user would have a reasonable expectation of privacy if they were using a camera phone in the privacy of their own home, not sure how legal this would be in many jurisdictions without clear warnings.

andrewbares

Umm, you agree to upload all of your pics. Microsoft doesn't automatically do it. So user negligence would be to blame.
http://www.facebook.com/whyJoe Joe Zapert

Except the users aren't notified adequately that their backed-up content is going to be subject to arbitrary taste enforcement.

What about the Office Live service? Would you expect Microsoft to be scanning the contents of your Word documents that you back up and set to Private, and deleting your account if they contain the "F" word? You would not. They within their rights to do so, but it is a poor practise and a bad way to treat users.

http://twitter.com/AaronCT123 @AaronCT123

You're kidding? That doesn't even begin to make sense. You're not "prohibited from using your Windows Phone to take nude photographs" you're prohibited from uploading nude photographs. That's a huge difference- it's not like the camera sees a nipple and then jumps back to the start screen.

http://www.facebook.com/whyJoe Joe Zapert

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about legalities. It is NOT a huge difference to the average end-user at whom this phone is marketed, since the the SkyDrive integrated service is touted as an online backup and it is so well-integrated into the phone as to be basically a part of it (remember that Windows Phone is all about the cloud-integration it offers.)

If you allow the phone to back up your photos to the cloud as it so graciously offers to do, then all of your photos are subject to TOS verification on pentalty of losing your Live account, apparently. And the TOS is more restrictive than "only legal content," but instead applies arbitrary standards. And it does so without much warning, and without adequate warning.

So no, the camera doesn't detect a nipple and jump to Start. But when, later, Microsoft detects a nipple, your Live account (the lifeblood of your phone btw) stops working, and in 48 hours is disable altogether. It's a problem.

ejlee2006

Just read the privacy statement from Microsoft, they don't have people checking on our SkyDrive, ANOTHER BS STORY from an fanboys.. This is bullshit. MSFT knows better!!!!!
Alex Rodriguez Jr.

Actually, doesn't the auto upload pop up the second you take your first photo? I believe it does, which means it is NOT on by default, and the big pop up makes it an OBVIOUS setting which a user can change. Stop trying to cast a shadow over the system, things like this exist everywhere, from Facebook, to school networks… You can't upload illegal content anywhere, period. This is in place for situations like child porn, or pictures of you slicing somebody's neck (I know, dramatic). I don't mind it, as I'm pretty confident that some random employee isn't scavanging through my documents trying to find out the secret access code to my company's server.

This is all automated, move on with your lives.

whyjoe

Alex, unless you live in certain parts of the world, a nude picture of a phone owner or his friend isn't "illegal content."

You're right: the phone does pop up to ask you. It doesn't warn you that if the photo you're snapping is of your girlfriend's breasts, though, that you could lose your Windows Live account. This is an issue becuase of the level of integration with the device, and the fact that the vast, vast, vast majority of casual users (at whom this device is square aimed, says Microsoft) think that their photos taken on their phone are private–even if they're auto-backed up to an online service. I bet the rate of nude-pic-snapping on smartphones is pretty high (esp. among 20-something males?), so this issue is going to keep coming up. No pun intended.

Alex Rodriguez Jr.

If the EULA states no nudity, or offensive material (however they word, or intend it) then you are bound to their rules. You having it on your phone is not the issue, the issue is it getting uploaded to a server which has their own rules. It is up to you, the user, to know those rules and to follow them. Does that mean I agree? It doesn't matter because my personal opinion doesn't change it. If you choose to automatically upload them, it's your decision. There are several other methods of backing up your photos, such as wirelessly syncing with your computer.

http://www.facebook.com/whyJoe Joe Zapert

I'm not disputing that you're bound by their rules and that they are within their rights. That has very little to do with whether it's the right thing to do to their users, especially considering who their market is and how they are positioning this phone. It's perfectly reasonable to be annoyed by this, if you are of the theory that Microsoft should do the right thing by its Windows Phone customers (I am!)

Brian

The fact that this may be automated scanning and not using a human scanner doesn't really matter (especially if flagged items are ultimately sent to a human screener). The real question is are the warnings legally sufficient.

http://www.facebook.com/whyJoe Joe Zapert

Not even. The question is: is Microsoft doing THE RIGHT THING by its users here. My guess is, they were unprepared for the consequences of integrating photo sharing on the phone with SkyDrive. This is something that will shake out if more people get these phones, believe me.

Duck

Yeah. This kind of thing does exist everywhere, so get used to it, slave.

syrinx

In the morning…

http://twitter.com/GCustom @GCustom

Enter text right here!
beHolder

I think MS should educate European users about how to meet the more prudish standards of American mainstream media taste which they applied here.

Also I wonder what they do when they start shipping WP7 in Muslim countries. Will they raise the bar even higher? Or will they get a separate cloud to protect them from evil western life style?
xuHAVON

1> User uploads nudies to a public share,
2> Random user stumbles across them and is lame enough to report the terrible baby killing crime against humanity.
3> The, prevent us getting sued or bad press policy kicks in and they have to appease the lamer with a takedown order.
4> Super accurate journalism kicks into gear and we have eyewitness testimony’s of Microsoft monitoring WM7 users bowel movements.
5> Anti MS fanboys go almost as wild as the anti Apple fanbois do when there is a hint of bad press blood in the water.
6> It dawns on the sarcastic comment poster that things would be shit boring without these half truth fanboi bait traps.

http://www.facebook.com/whyJoe Joe Zapert

I'm more of an MS fanboi than anything, but this kind of thing annoys me. I would be interested to see the reaction if Apple did this to MobileMe users in their private albums. (Maybe they do?)

xma1e

…not only that. what else are they viewing?
xma1e

To be honest, as a photographer, I'm curious to see the so called nude pictures. I wonder if I'm breaking the T&C if I store a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man on Skydrive?
drv

I don't understand the concern. MS offers a free service with conditions. It's their servers and they can decide what the conditions are. Don't like the conditions? Then don't use the service. Better yet, just encrypt and zip the files and no one will ever look at them.
Reese

Yep, I hate to rain on the hate parade, but Microsoft is a company that offers a service, a free service at that. The Service Agreement clearly states that, "When using the service, you must comply with this contract, all applicable laws and the Microsoft Anti-Spam Policy (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=117951). As applicable, you must also obey the code of conduct (http://g.live.com/0ELHP_MEREN/243)."

The Code of Conduct clearly states, "You will not upload, post, transmit, transfer, distribute or facilitate distribution of any content (including text, images, sound, video, data, information or software) or otherwise use the service in a way that:

* depicts nudity of any sort including full or partial human nudity…."

Don't like the free service? Then look elsewhere. Oh, btw, Google has the same policy – http://picasa.google.com/intl/en_us/policy.html, as does Yahoo! – http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-17… (ref. Sec 6a).

All these policies do is limit the company's liability. But those are the ToS.

As for "privacy" and these pictures being "my property," that's not in dispute. Of course a picture that you take with your phone is your property. All Microsoft/Google/Yahoo! are saying is store it somewhere else.

David

The pertinent question is whether they disclosed that they would actively monitor your content. Businesses and individuals have legitimate reasons for keeping information private – due to competition, pending legal cases (think medical malpractice), etc. Unless Microsoft disclosed that they would actively monitor uploaded content – then they're being deceptive. The privacy policy must state explicitly that your uploaded content is monitored and reviewed by them. If that's what they're doing, the privacy policy should says so. Honesty is the best policy.

Arturo

Sorry, but I do not consider some topless pictures as porn. This is totally excessive.
So they can check your picture (firstly it's made autmatically, but probably a human checks the pictures ater and decide to delete them or not) and close your account !
What's next after this censorship ? They send you the Microsoft police at your home ?

In my country nudity is not illegal at all, and I do not want Microsoft to impose me such excessive rules or pudishness that can only be found in some non-democratic countries. No excessive censorship in demcracy. Thanks.
WinMo4tw

Well, if there is an option to share the former private photos this is just normal for Microsoft avoiding legal issues. Don't make such a big deal about this. Nobody has to use the upload with Microsoft's servers.
Cabot

So, why is the "sharing photos" set by default ?

Some people do not even know that their pictures are available to the public.
xma1e

Not all nudity is porn. My example of Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" could fall foul of these T&C.

I won't be using sky drive, not because of their policy on nudity, but because of security.

I'm also a photographer, some of the fashion or art pictures I produce would also fall foul. Not that I would want to store documents there, I might want to back things up to skydrive.

Like many companies these days, MS will shut you down without notice, it wasn't until the Photographer queried what happened did he know he had broken their T&C.

Needless to say, if I continue using WP7, my next phone MUST have removeable storage and not the small amout the HD7 has.
wanderer

But there is a big difference to other free services since MS advertizes Skydrive as great backup solution for your private media files on your WP7 phone which has no support for user replaceable SD cards. So you can only backup to SkyDrive or to your PC at home but which does not help when you are on a trip. So you need SkyDrive since as far as I know other apps have no access to the files in the pciture hub (you could jailbreak your phone but normal users don't do that).

But when a normal consumer walks into a phone store and buys a WP7 phone there is no hint whatsoever about SkyDrive's ToS. Many WP7 customers sign only up because they need SkyDrive for WP7. I never cared about SkyDrive before. Also as we all know most people do not read all the fine print when signing up for free stuff and just click it away.

So at least every box of a WP7 phone should include a clear warning that you can backup all private files on SkyDrive except your real private files.
The dudeness

If MS have people looking at your pictures and documents unemployment will be 0%..Do you know the people that it will take to have such a function. Like many stated before, most likely a software that is anti-porn. relax people.
omar

Ok I dont know if there is some kind of mental hemorrhage going on here. One guy says that there should be warning labels like cigarette packs, another is comparing Microsoft to a small country and using it as a poster child for anti-democratic services,…uh, what?__Skydrive is a free service. Microsoft has rules like small and big countries have laws. If you are a photographer and you like taking pictures of nude things or anybody else you still have to follow rules. Microsoft isn't trying to supress anything that's why it implemented Skydrive. The alternative would be not to have it at all. Also after looking at many phone reviews there are handsets including droids , not only WP7's, that do not offer local memory expansion, cloud only. As far as what to do with explicit content MS just unveiled SDK for cloud services which will allow you to remotely connect to your pc and use it for storage. Come on guys the platform is still in its infancy, the potential of the platform comes with being able to connect your phone to your computer, which most are MS and make it an extended services that you are already used to from your pc. So guys ease up a bit, drink some cold lemonade, and reminisce… AHHHH!!! Feels so good.

xma1e

Where your argument falls down is with the definaition of nudity. There are many different levels of nudity from porn to implied. May work of arts and also holiday snaps (anyone topless lying face down on a beach would also be class as implied or partial nudity). My main concern here is the fact that the persons account was automatically suspended without warning or the person being contacted. Imagine losing accesss to ALL your files becaus eof a holiday beach snap in Spain?

omz9

Understood, but there must be a consensus that there are rules in place to be followed. However, your concern is also a valid concern, the reason for cancellation of an account must first priority, not just closing the account automatically. In the same token, I would caution that their actions are no different than those from any other company as long as they act within their parameters. Similar actions could be expected from Sony, Google, Yahoo, and many others if necessary.
Equality 7-2521

"Censorship" always seems to induce fits of indignation and rights-asserting bluster. Unfortunately, too many people fail to recognize (or deliberately ignore) the distinction between private and government censorship. Government censorship–the bad kind no one likes (except dictators)–is the exercise of force by the state in order to squelch ideas which it considers inimical to its existence. It takes on many forms, the most insidious of which is the adoption of "community standards" that limit individual expression–whether through speech, artistic creation, or other means. Private censorship is an individual's exercise of his right to selectively ignore that which he deems unappealing, offensive, worthless, or otherwise undesirable. A corporation still possesses this right even though it's not "one person". We all censor what we dislike, though not everyone recognizes it as such. A simple illustration?

* Government censorship: cutting a television broadcast off the air
* Private censorship: changing the channel
Danii-Jane

i tried to acess my skydrive today but was met with the message

Your account has been shut down
Your SkyDrive account has been taken offline. To resolve this problem, please contact us.

after i clicked contact us this statement appeared:

Provide your Windows Live ID sign-in information or personal e-mail address.

*
Your account has been taken offline for suspicious activity or a violation of Microsoft’s Terms of Use agreement, such as containing photos or images that are in violation of the Code of Conduct. In many cases, the Windows Live Online Safety team will send out warnings to the email account associated with the SkyDrive account asking for the removal of the photos in question. Failure to do so will result in shutting down the account. In order to have your account reviewed for reactivation, please provide the following information.
*
Full name:
Please complete
Miss XXXXXXXXX
* The e-mail address for us to send a response:
xxxxx@xxxxx
Please completePlease Enter: Valid email address
xxxxx@xxxxxx
* Primary e-mail address/member ID associated with the account you are inquiring about:
Please completePlease Enter: Valid email address

So that we may better assist you, please provide as many details as possible about your issue.

* Service: SkyDrive Account Activation

* What type of problem do you have? (Select the option that most closely matches your problem.Your selections enable us to quickly provide the most accurate response.)
*

By submitting this information, you acknowledge it will be handled in accordance with the terms of the privacy statement. Privacy Statement

Been uploading my nude for about 3 years now. im a life draw model nude art model also. So i'd surprised if they tell me to remove my 200+ nude photos.

All of my albums are set to JUST FOR ME so there is no way anyone can see them.

not happy. I cannot access my documents either, forget the nude picutres.

but I should have read the ToS years ago which i read this morning and states

Prohibited Uses

You will not upload, post, transmit, transfer, distribute or facilitate distribution of any content (including text, images, sound, video, data, information or software) or otherwise use the service in a way that:

*

depicts nudity of any sort including full or partial human nudity or nudity in non-human forms such as cartoons, fantasy art or manga.
*

incites, advocates, or expresses pornography, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, hatred, bigotry, racism, or gratuitous violence.

but to be honest i'm not sure if anyone does.

Danii-Jane

this was the email i got this morning,

Hello Dj,

We have found images involving adult content on your SkyDrive account, http://cid-CC883AF1294E569B.skydrive.live.com.
Here are some examples:
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4639.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4633.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4641.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4644.JPG
Kindly remove this content and any other images, messages or files that violate the Windows Live SkyDrive Code of conduct within 48 hours.
Violations include, but are not limited to, nudity, partial nudity, pornography, harassment, and illegal or offensive behavior. For a complete description of content that is not allowed on Windows Live SkyDrive, please visit our Code of Conduct at: http://explore.live.com/code-of-conduct
We also restrict our users from posting full or partial nude pictures of babies and children. This policy has been implemented in order to reduce the risks of predators in the online community and of course to ensure the safety of the children. If your SkyDrive account contains any material of this nature, please remove them as well.
If you remove all violating content, your SkyDrive account will again be in accordance with the Windows Live SkyDrive Code of Conduct, and will remain accessible for your use. Otherwise, we will be forced to close down your SkyDrive as well as any associated Spaces and Profile accounts. Again, while this is never an option we like to take, Microsoft takes the safety of children quite seriously.
You may delete files from your SkyDrive account by following these instructions:
1. Log into SkyDrive
2. Navigate to the 'Shared' or 'Public' folder that contains the offending file
3. Select the file to be removed by clicking the file
4. Click 'Delete'
5. Click 'OK' to permanently delete the file
Thank you for helping Windows Live SkyDrive provide a friendly and safe experience for all of our customers.

Sincerely,
Support Specialist
Windows Live Support Team

Danii-Jane

Hello Djmlt,

We have found images involving adult content on your SkyDrive account, http://cid-CC883AF1294E569B.skydrive.live.com.
Here are some examples:
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4639.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4633.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4641.JPG
LiveFolders/SpecxXx's 'Folio 2011/IMG_4644.JPG
Kindly remove this content and any other images, messages or files that violate the Windows Live SkyDrive Code of conduct within 48 hours.
Violations include, but are not limited to, nudity, partial nudity, pornography, harassment, and illegal or offensive behavior. For a complete description of content that is not allowed on Windows Live SkyDrive, please visit our Code of Conduct at: http://explore.live.com/code-of-conduct
We also restrict our users from posting full or partial nude pictures of babies and children. This policy has been implemented in order to reduce the risks of predators in the online community and of course to ensure the safety of the children. If your SkyDrive account contains any material of this nature, please remove them as well.
If you remove all violating content, your SkyDrive account will again be in accordance with the Windows Live SkyDrive Code of Conduct, and will remain accessible for your use. Otherwise, we will be forced to close down your SkyDrive as well as any associated Spaces and Profile accounts. Again, while this is never an option we like to take, Microsoft takes the safety of children quite seriously.
You may delete files from your SkyDrive account by following these instructions:
1. Log into SkyDrive
2. Navigate to the 'Shared' or 'Public' folder that contains the offending file
3. Select the file to be removed by clicking the file
4. Click 'Delete'
5. Click 'OK' to permanently delete the file
Thank you for helping Windows Live SkyDrive provide a friendly and safe experience for all of our customers.

Sincerely,
Support Specialist
Windows Live Support Team
patricia

same thng just happened to me, i had no idea that someone else was looking at my photos, this really makes me furious!!!
Adas

probably they’re are using their own technology, photoDNA:

In 2009, Microsoft, working with Dartmouth College, developed PhotoDNA, a technology that aids in finding and removing some of the “worst of the worst” images of child sexual exploitations from the Internet. Microsoft donated the PhotoDNA technology to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), who established a PhotoDNA-based program for online service providers to help disrupt the spread of child pornography online. Over the next year, Microsoft, working with NCMEC, implemented a gradual rollout of PhotoDNA on Bing, SkyDrive and Hotmail services. In early 2011, Facebook joined Microsoft in sublicensing the technology for use on its network. It is our hope that other online service providers will follow Microsoft and Facebook’s lead in adopting this game-changing technology.
Sasa Pavlakovic

Similar thing happened to me. I uploaded photo of my 6-month naked baby while on vacation. The whole parrent directory and all directories within it are set with privacy setting “Just me”. I agree with Microsoft that such pictures are not allowed to be put online but you should be able to put it in your own private folder. We all have kids and sooner or later will make some cloud backup. When we do that we don’t want to know that someone is checking on my images. Where is privacy in this service? Microsoft wants to expand this service on operating system, mobile phones etc. but everyone must be aware that his pictures will be checked. And, of course using auto upload on my WP7 mobile phone will be immediately terminated because I use it for business purpose.
http://twitter.com/stephen_victor Stephen Victor

SOPA-ish, eh…
DaveFlash

it’s still true today, I have set all my uploads to private (ie “just me”) and still they locked out the account, I’m new to this cloud thing and never had a problem uploading some porn to dropbox and downloading it on another computer. So just as a test I placed some html-saves from 7chan.org’s NSFW section… and sure enough sometime later Microshit locked the account…..
http://twitter.com/mupet0000 mupet

Same problem here, I didn’t get any warning at all and now my account is locked! Anything we can do? I’ve had this account for 10 years!!

Scan QR Codes, UPC, EAN, Code 39/128 or ITF barcodes on your Windows Phone 7 to find best prices online.

Enjoy slots? Blackjack? Video Poker? Play Crazy Casino FREE!

#1 FREE Solitaire on WP7

If your a fan of Pong then you will love this game. Heavenly Skies. Save the universe! Are you ready?

A rewarding mix of match 3 and tetris gameplay

Free, Live Tile support for Word Of The Day and so much more. Why NOT try it out?

Set up reminders with only two taps. Supports also text reminders and voice reminders.

Download the best puzzle game in WP7 Marketplace for FREE!

Are you a good Alchemist ? Use your brain to discover Atomic Energy, Chuck Norris, Angry Birds and 1400 more !

Fun puzzle game with over 150 levels!

Fully featured, beautifully designed WP7 YouTube app.

u.n.i MEGA PACK (FREE), the ultimate addictive top GAMES bundle for Windows Phone 7! 7+ and growing!

Highly addictive word game designed for adrenaline junkies. Practice locally, but then are you fast enough to compete online?

The smartest Google reader app.

Air Soccer Fever - Realtime Online Multiplayer casual soccer game for FREE

Beat the Story Mode. When your done Bring your skill online. Rank up by winning online matches. Have 1 on 1's with anyone! Global Online Multiplayer!

Newest devices leaks, online charts and ultimate performance benchmark for every Windows Phone.

Every day, get great app deals from Windows Phone developers pushed to you!

Quick Tiles, a fully featured live tile editor for Windows Phone.

Great sports app for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. Pin scores/games to live tile on your home screen.

MobileFax gives you the opportunity to send fax pages from your mobile phone anytime, anywhere !

WP7 Exclusive version of Hanging with Friends

Fabulously fun, lovable, crazy! Bubble Pong Championship

A remake of the classic snake game. The snake wants to grow so don't wait and help her!

Promote your app on WMPoweruser.com