Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 2 Privacy Statement
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 Application Virtualization (App-V). Specifically, the privacy statement describes the features that send information to others, including Microsoft. It doesn't apply to other online or offline Microsoft sites, products, or services.
App-V transforms applications into virtualized, network-available services resulting in dynamic delivery of software that is never installed, doesn't conflict, and minimizes costly application compatibility testing. Users and their application environments are no longer machine-specific, and the machines themselves are no longer user-specific, enabling IT to be flexible and responsive to business needs, and significantly reducing the cost of PC management, including application and operating system (OS) migrations.
Collection and Use of Your Information
The information we collect from you'll be used by Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates to enable the features you're 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 won't 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'll only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service, and they're 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. We may also disclose personal information as part of a corporate transaction such as a merger or sale of assets.
Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft by App-V 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 is sent as well.
Because this is a prerelease version of the software, some of these Internet-enabled features are turned on by default so that we can collect enough information about how the software is working in order to improve the commercially released software. The default settings in this prerelease software don't necessarily reflect how these features will be configured in the commercially released software.
The privacy details for each App-V feature, software or service listed in this privacy statement describe what additional information is collected and how it's used.
Security of your information
Microsoft is committed to helping protect the security of your information. We use various 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'll occasionally update this privacy statement to reflect changes in our products, services, and customer feedback. When we post changes, we'll 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'll 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.
Specific features
The remainder of this document addresses the following specific features:
Note
This section is divided into two parts: (1) features in all versions of App-V and (2) features in App-V 4.6 SP1 and later.
Microsoft Error Reporting
What This Feature Does:
Microsoft Error Reporting provides a service that allows you to report problems you may be having with App-V to Microsoft and to receive information that may help you avoid or solve such problems.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
For information about the information collected, processed, or transmitted by Microsoft Error Reporting, see the Microsoft Error Reporting privacy statement.
Use of Information:
We use the error reporting data to solve customer problems and improve our software and services.
Choice/Control:
App-V doesn't change your Microsoft Error Reporting settings. If you previously turned on error reporting, it sends Microsoft the information about the errors you encountered. When Microsoft needs more data to analyze the problem, you'll be prompted to review the data and choose whether or not to send it. App-V will always respect your Microsoft Error Reporting settings.
Important Information:
Enterprise customers can use Group Policy to configure how Microsoft Error Reporting behaves on their computers. Configuration options include the ability to turn off Microsoft Error Reporting. If you're an administrator and wish to configure Group Policy for Microsoft Error Reporting, see Windows Error Reporting and the problem reports and solutions feature.
Microsoft Update
What This Feature Does:
Microsoft Update is a service that provides Windows updates and updates for other Microsoft software, including App-V. For details about what information is collected, how it's used and how to change your settings, see the Update Services Privacy Statement.
Choice/Control:
If Microsoft Update isn't enabled, you can opt in during setup and subsequent checks for updates follow the machine-wide schedule. You can update this option from the Microsoft Update Control Panel item.
Collection/Transmission of Configuration Data
What This Feature Does:
The product collects various configuration items, including UserID, MachineID and SecurityGroup details, to be able to enforce settings on managed nodes. The data is stored in the App-V SQL database and transmitted across the App-V server and client components to enforce the configuration on the managed node.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
User and machine information and configuration content
Use of Information:
The information is used to enforce the application access configuration on the managed nodes within the enterprise. The information doesn't leave the enterprise.
Choice/Control:
By default, the product doesn't have any data. All data is entered and enabled by the admin and can be viewed in the Management console. The feature can't be disabled as this is the product functionality. To disable this, App-V needs to be uninstalled.
Important Information:
None of this information is sent out of the enterprise.
Package History Information
What This Feature Does:
It captures package history and asset information as part of the package.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
Information about the package and the sequencing environment is collected and stored in the package manifest during sequencing.
Use of Information:
The information will be used by the admin to track the updates done to a package during its lifecycle. It will also be used by software deployment systems to track the package deployments within the organization.
Choice/Control:
This feature is always enabled and can't be turned off.
Important Information:
This administrator information is stored in the package and can be viewed by the end users if they access the XML associated with the application.
Collection and Transmission of Reporting Data
What This Feature Does:
The product collects various reporting data points, including the username, to allow reporting on the usage of the product.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
Information about the machine, package and application usage are collected from every machine that reporting is enabled on.
Use of Information:
The information is used to report on application usage within the enterprise. The information doesn't leave the enterprise.
Choice/Control:
By default, the product doesn't have any data. Data is only collected once the reporting feature is enabled on the App-V Client. To disable the collection of reporting data, the reporting feature must be disabled on all clients.
Important Information:
None of this information is sent out of the enterprise.
Features in App-V 4.6 SP1 and later
This section addresses specific features available in App-V 4.6 SP1 and later.
Customer Experience Improvement Program
What This Feature Does:
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 won't 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 Microsoft privacy statement.
Use of Information:
We use this information to improve the quality, reliability, and performance of Microsoft software and services.
Choice/Control:
CEIP is optional and the opt-in status can be updated during install or post install from the GUI.
Application Package Accelerators
What This Feature Does:
Customers can use Application Package Accelerators to automatically package complex applications without installing the application. The App-V sequencer allows you to create package accelerators for each virtual package. You can then use these package accelerators to automatically re-create the same virtual package in the future. You may also use package accelerators released by Microsoft or other third parties to simplify and automate packaging of complex applications.
Information Collected, Processed, or Transmitted:
Application Package Accelerators may contain information such as computer names, user account information, and information about applications included in the Package Accelerator file.
If you plan to share Application Package Accelerators with anyone outside your organization you should review all the settings and ensure the Package Accelerators don't contain any personal or company information. You can view the contents by opening the Package Accelerator files using any XML viewer. The following are ways you can view and remove any computer or user information from the Package Accelerator files before sharing with anyone outside your company:
Username - When you sign in the computer running the App-V sequencer you should use a generic user account, such as administrator. You shouldn't use an account that is based on an existing username.
Computer Name: Specify a general, nonidentifying name for the computer that is running the App-V Sequencer.
Server URL: Use the default settings for the server URL configuration information on the Deployment tab in the App-V Sequencer console.
Applications: If you don't want to share the list of applications that were installed on the computer running the sequencer when you created the Package Accelerator you must delete the appv_manifest.xml file. This file is located in the package root directory of the virtual application package.
No information is sent to Microsoft through customers' use of the Application Package Accelerator feature.