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It isn’t just Microsoft doing this. Recently, a friend signed up for a new Facebook page, and I got an invitation to join him. That didn’t bother me; what did bother me was that underneath that message was a notice from Facebook suggesting that here were five more people whose Facebook pages I might like to join!
These people have nothing to do with the person whose invitation I received. Two were Doctors (one of whom died 7 months earlier); one was a distant relative with whom I’d been communicating recently; one was a former friend; the fifth was a distant acquaintance, all of whose addresses were in MY email address book-not his. At my request, he emailed Facebook for an explanation. Their response was they obtain info from various sources, including his online address book as well as those of other members, with whom my email address had been cross-referenced!!!
I wrote a letter of outrage to the CEO of Facebook threatening a lawsuit for invasion of privacy because this was my ‘personal’ email address, not my ‘public’ one. Having read their Privacy page, once they harvest email addresses from you, they keep them forever; and there is NO WAY to have them removed… Closing his account does not delete anything from their files.
My friend canceled his Facebook account, but the damage had been done-PERMANENTLY.
Now, I may have to change my personal email address because of their policies unless public outcry forces them to permit email addresses to be removed from one’s profile.
Is anyone out there as angry about this as I am? If so, maybe we can create an atmosphere for change…

Follow the instructions here to remove the retained email addresses. This is something to get upset about!
http://www.facebook.com/contact_importer/remove_uploads.php

“In its rush to take on Facebook and Google Buzz, Microsoft is now collecting and displaying personal information on your Hotmail page — information you may never have wanted to broadcast.”

Get your facts straight! Where have you been? Windows Live has been working this way for years. This version is called Wave 3 and has operated this way for about a year and a half. The only one “rushing” is Google with Buzz. It’s was about the only big player without a social network. The fact the Windows Live gives you all those security options gives you more granular control over how you share things. And those that are on your network are there because you added them. Either you added them in Windows Live Messenger or directly to an invite that you or they initiated. Windows Live does not share things with “Everyone” by default as Facebook will do unless told not to with their new “simplified” security.

Anyway, wave 4 for Windows Live will be out soon, and it will be more prominent to basic Hotmail users as it will incorporate the new Office Web apps and updates will appear even more visibly in the Hotmail web app. Files you make with these apps can be emailed or stored online in your FREE 25 gig Windows Live SkyDrive. And when you save a file there, guess what? It’s going to announce it to your network – unless you don’t want to share it. Then it won’t. Anyway, my opinion is that you’ve gone off half-cocked on something you seemingly admit that you don’t know much about. I’ve been using this service for a long time. I have a blog on there, and my best readers are those people ON MY NETWORK. This is a great service, and they aren’t rushing to do anything. Get your fact straight, and get over it!