Microsoft Kodu Game Lab Privacy Statement
Last updated: September, 2011
Microsoft is committed to protecting your privacy, while delivering software that brings you the performance, power, and convenience you desire in your personal computing. This privacy statement explains many of the data collection and use practices of Microsoft Kodu Game Lab, (“Kodu”). This is a preliminary disclosure that focuses on features that communicate with the Internet and is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone.
Collection and Use of Your Information
The information we collect from you will be used by Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates to enable the features you are using and provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized. It may also be used to analyze and improve Microsoft products and services.
We may send certain mandatory service communications such as welcome letters, billing reminders, information on technical service issues, and security announcements. Some Microsoft services may send periodic member letters that are considered part of the service. We may occasionally request your feedback, invite you to participate in surveys, or send you promotional mailings to inform you of other products or services available from Microsoft and its affiliates.
In order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with Microsoft, information collected through one Microsoft service may be combined with information obtained through other Microsoft services. We may also supplement the information we collect with information obtained from other companies. For example, we may use services from other companies that enable us to derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.
Except as described in this statement, personal information you provide will not be transferred to third parties without your consent. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as packaging, sending and delivering purchases and other mailings, answering customer questions about products or services, processing event registration, or performing statistical analysis of our services. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
Microsoft may access or disclose information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the services; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public.
Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft by Kodu may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or service providers 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, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.
Collection and Use of Information about Your Computer
When you use software with Internet-enabled features, information about your computer ("standard computer information") is sent to the Web sites you visit and online services you use. Microsoft uses standard computer information to provide you Internet-enabled services, to help improve our products and services, and for statistical analysis. Standard computer information typically includes information such as your IP address, operating system version, browser version, and regional and language settings. In some cases, standard computer information may also include hardware ID, which indicates the device manufacturer, device name, and version. If a particular feature or service sends information to Microsoft, standard computer information will be sent as well.
The privacy details for each Kodu feature, software or service listed in this privacy statement describe what additional information is collected and how it is used.
Security of your information
Microsoft is committed to helping protect 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 systems with limited access, which are located in controlled facilities.
Changes to this privacy statement
We will occasionally update this privacy statement to reflect changes in our products, services, and customer feedback. When we post changes, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this statement. If there are material changes to this statement or in how Microsoft will use your personal information, we will notify you either by posting a notice of such changes prior to implementing the change or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how Microsoft is protecting your information.
For More Information
Microsoft welcomes your comments regarding this privacy statement. If you have questions about this statement or believe that we have not adhered to it, please contact us at koduprivacy@microsoft.com <mailto:koduprivacy@microsoft.com>.
Kodu Privacy
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, Washington 98052 USA
Specific features
The remainder of this document will address the following specific features:
Send Usage Information
What This Feature Does:
Send Usage Information, also known as the Customer Experience Improvement Program (“CEIP”), collects basic information about your hardware configuration and how you use our software and services in order to identify trends and usage patterns. CEIP also collects the type and number of errors you encounter, software and hardware performance, and the speed of services. We will not collect your name, address, or other contact information.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
For more information about the information collected, processed, or transmitted by CEIP, see the CEIP privacy statement at <http://www.microsoft.com/products/ceip/EN-US/privacypolicy.mspx>.
Use of Information:
We use this information to improve the quality, reliability, and performance of Microsoft software and services.
Choice/Control:
You are offered the opportunity to participate in CEIP during setup.
You can choose to disable CEIP at any time in the In Games Option screen.
Check for Updates
What This Feature Does:
Check for Updates notifies you when new versions of Kodu are available for download, and gives you the option to install the most recent version.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
If Check for Updates is enabled, your system will periodically send details about your version of Kodu to Microsoft. If your version is not the most recent version available, Kodu will notify you that a more recent version exists, and give you the option of installing it.
Use of Information:
The version information collected will be used to determine whether there is a more recent version of Kodu available to you.
Choice/Control:
You are offered the opportunity to Check for Updates during setup. You can choose to disable Check for Updates at any time in the In Games Option screen.
Community Feature
What this feature does:
Allows the user to share a game he/she has created with other Kodu users (the “Community”), all from within Kodu. Basic information about the level will be provided including a creator, a description of the game, game version number and keywords (all settable when the game is saved).
Community
All games submitted to the community will also be viewable from the website (http://KoduGameLab.com). Games may continue to be submitted to the Community without any form of authentication. This ensures that younger users may continue to use Kodu anonymously without having any sort of official “account” that stores potential personal information.
Users may also elect to authenticate with their existing login credentials on common social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live). If a user chooses to do so, he or she will be able to manage a Kodu Game Lab Community profile, rate uploaded games, and leave comments. This feature is entirely optional.
When you log in with any of the authentication services, no personal information is recorded--we do not record your name, your email address, your friends, followers or other information that might be made available to us by the authenticating service. We will not post anything to the authenticating service without asking you first.
Use of this information:
This information will be used to help other users locate potential games of interest. In addition, Microsoft may analyze your content for the purposes of understanding how Kodu is used and improving Kodu and other educational software. (For example, we may analyze your content to learn which computer science concepts are being successfully expressed in Kodu’s language, and which may need improvement.) Microsoft may share the analysis with others, such as educational institutions and researchers, for the purposes mentioned above. Activities on the website are also monitored, in an effort to help us improve the service. No personal information is included in the data used for analysis and research.
Choice/Control:
Users who do not share games with the community will not be visible there. Microsoft does not track or otherwise monitor which games users download.
