Privacy Statement for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

Last updated: February 2007

At Microsoft, we're working hard to protect your privacy, while delivering products that bring you the performance, power, and convenience that you desire in your personal computing. This privacy statement explains the data collection and use practices of Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Microsoft Office Accounting"). Microsoft Office Accounting is a comprehensive financial management program designed to help small businesses spend less time managing their finances and more time growing their businesses. This statement focuses on features in Microsoft Office Accounting that communicate with the Internet and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. It does not apply to data collected through other online or offline Microsoft sites, products, or services.

Collection and use of your personal information

When we need information that personally identifies you or allows us to contact you, we will explicitly ask you for it. The privacy details for each feature listed in this privacy statement will disclose what types of information are collected. The personal information that we collect from you will be used by Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates to operate Microsoft Office Accounting and to provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) that you requested or authorized. In support of these uses, Microsoft may use personal information to provide you with more effective customer service, to improve Microsoft Office Accounting and any related Microsoft products or services, and to make Microsoft Office Accounting easier to use by eliminating the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information or by customizing the service to your particular preference or interests.

In order to use certain Internet-enabled features and services within Microsoft Office Accounting, we will ask you to sign in with your Windows Live ID credentials (an e-mail address and password). You can register for those credentials at the Windows Live ID Web site. Please note that you should use the strength meter on the Windows Live ID form to create a strong password, since Microsoft Office Accounting requires it. After you create your Windows Live ID, you can use the same credentials to sign into many different Microsoft sites and services, as well as those of select Microsoft partners, that display the Windows Live ID or Microsoft Passport Network logos. By signing in on one Microsoft site or service, you may be automatically signed in when you visit other Microsoft sites and services. To learn more about how your credential information is used when you sign into participating sites, please read the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. If you have an existing bCentral account, but not a Windows Live ID, you may use the Migration Wizard on the sign-in Web page to convert your bCentral account to a Windows Live ID account.

Except as described in this statement, personal information that you provide will not be transferred to third parties without your consent. 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.

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 Office Accounting; (b) protect or defend the rights or property of Microsoft and its family of Web sites; 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.

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.

Collection and use of information about your computer

Microsoft Office Accounting contains several 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 certain information about your computer software and hardware, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system version, browser version, a code that identifies the manufacturer of your computer, and your regional and language settings. The privacy details for each Microsoft Office Accounting 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.

Control of your personal information

Except as otherwise described in this statement, personal information that you provide to Microsoft Office Accounting will not be shared outside of Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your permission.

Please be aware that this privacy statement and any choices that you make regarding Microsoft Office Accounting will not necessarily apply to personal information that you provided to Microsoft in the context of other, separately operated, Microsoft products or services.

Access to your personal information

You can review and edit the personal information that you provided when you signed up for your Windows Live ID credentials by signing into your account at the Windows Live ID Web site. You can manage your account settings and billing information by going to the Microsoft Billing and Account Management Web site. You can view and update your Registration Information by selecting Update Registration from the product's Help menu.

Security practices

Microsoft is committed to protecting the security of your personal 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 that you provide on computer servers with limited access that are located in controlled facilities. Additionally, when we transmit sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

Changes to this privacy statement

We may occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will also revise the "last updated" date at the top of the privacy statement. For material changes to this privacy statement, we will notify you either by placing a prominent notice on the home page of our Web site or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this privacy statement and any updates.

For more information

If you have questions about this privacy statement, please contact us by e-mail at oaprivacy@microsoft.com.

Or by postal mail:

Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 Privacy Statement
c/o MBS.Microsoft.com Privacy
One Lone Tree Road
Fargo, North Dakota 58104-3911

To find the Microsoft subsidiary in your country or region, see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/.

Specific Features

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. The Microsoft Software License Terms for the software specifies the number of times a product key can be used for activation. Once you used a product key for the specified number of times on the same or different computers, that product key can no longer be used for activation on other computers.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

During activation, the product ID and a hardware hash (a non-unique number generated from the computer's hardware configuration) are sent to Microsoft. The product ID is generated from the product key used to install the software and a generic code representing the version of Microsoft Office Accounting being activated. 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. Your activation information is sent to Microsoft when you submit your registration information.

Use of information

The information is used to confirm that you have a licensed copy of the software, and is aggregated for statistical analysis. The product ID may be associated with personal information that you provide during registration for the product in order to provide you with product support and product update information.

Choice and control

Activation is mandatory. If you choose not to activate the software, you cannot use it after the grace period expires.

Registration

What this feature does

At the end of the activation process, you will be asked to register the software. Registration allows Microsoft to provide you with improved product support and product update information, including product updates designed to address changes in accounting laws and regulations. It also allows Microsoft to notify you of customized information and offers regarding future products.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

The software will ask you to enter information about you and your company, including your company's name, address, telephone number, industry type, number of employees, communications preferences and other information. The information that you enter into these fields will be stored in the software. When you click Send during the final registration step, the information that you provided during registration, together with the software's activation information, will be sent to Microsoft.

Choice and control

Registration is mandatory. If you choose not to register the software, you cannot use it after the grace period expires.

You can review and edit the personal information that you provided in the product during registration by selecting Update Registration in the product's Help menu. This will cause your default Web browser to open the Microsoft Small Business Registration Service. You will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID in order to access your personal information. Additionally, the first time that you sign in to access your personal information, you will be asked to supply your Registration ID. When you sign in, you may review and update your personal information.

You have the option of receiving e-mail about product upgrades, special offers and new services for Microsoft Office Accounting. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time by following the instructions in the e-mail. We may also send certain mandatory service communications, such as information on technical service issues and security announcements. With your consent, we may share information with Microsoft partners so that they can send you information about their products and services.

Marketplace Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

Marketplace Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Marketplace Services") allows users of Microsoft Office Accounting to list items on online marketplaces, download listing information and orders, and to manage payments, fees, and inventory without needing to enter certain data manually.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

Before you can use Marketplace Services, you must sign up for it. When you sign up, you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID and to select a service plan. You will also be asked to provide contact and demographic information about you and your company, such as name, address, credit card number and expiration date, and other information. This information, together with your software's product ID, is sent to Microsoft via SSL during the registration process.

At the end of the registration process, you will be presented with one or more third-party marketplace services (such as auction services) that are available for use with Marketplace Services. When you select a marketplace service, you will be taken to that service's Web site to sign in. If you do not have an account with the service, you will need to register for an account with the service. Any information that you provide to a marketplace service is subject to that service's privacy practices.

To use Marketplace Services to list items for sale online, you need to sign in with your Windows Live ID. Once you sign in, you will be asked for certain information about the product that you wish to list, such as SKU, name, description, weight, and tax exempt status. This information is sent to Microsoft via SSL. You will also be asked to provide information for the listing, such as title, description, pictures of the item that you are selling, and, where, applicable, price or starting bid, auction duration, and accepted payment methods. This information is sent to Microsoft and to the marketplace service via SSL. The service will list the item and return confirmation of listing, together with a listing ID number. The listing confirmation and ID number are sent to Microsoft and are displayed in Microsoft Office Accounting.

Marketplace Services automatically synchronizes with the marketplace service provider from time to time. To download synchronized information about marketplace listings to your computer, you will be asked to sign in with your Windows Live ID. Once you sign in, Microsoft Office Accounting will download information from Microsoft about items that were listed or sold, including payment status, fees charged by the auction service (and, if applicable, such information as the winning bid and the payment service used by the buyer), as well as information about the buyer, such as his or her marketplace service user ID and shipping information. This information is transmitted via SSL.

Use of information

Information collected by Marketplace Services is used to provide the service to you, including billing you, and for maintaining, analyzing and improving the service.

Choice and control

Marketplace Services is optional. If you do not sign up for the service, it will not collect information about you.

You can review and edit the personal information that you provided during registration for Marketplace Services by clicking Manage Billing under the Marketplace menu. You will be asked to supply your Windows Live ID credentials to access and edit this information.

Equifax Credit Profile for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

Equifax Credit Profile for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Equifax Credit Profile") is a service in Microsoft Office Accounting that allows users to receive credit profiles regarding customers and vendors at selected intervals.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

Before you can use Equifax Credit Profile, you must sign up for the service. During your initial sign-up, you will be presented with service plans. When you select a service plan, you will be asked to provide your Windows Live ID credentials and to agree to the Terms of Service. You will also be asked to provide contact and demographic information about your company, such as name, address, tax ID number, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address, as well as information about your company's owner, including name, address, telephone number, Social Security number, date of birth, and driver's license details. This information, together with your software's product ID, is sent to Equifax via SSL and is not sent to Microsoft. Equifax uses this information to generate validation questions. The validation questions are displayed to you in Microsoft Office Accounting, and your responses are sent to Equifax via SSL.

If you answer the validation questions correctly, you will be asked to provide subscription information for your Equifax Credit Profile service account, including name, company name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, billing address, and billing telephone number. Additionally, if you are purchasing a paid subscription, you will be asked for your credit card's type, number, expiration date, and verification number (CVV2). This subscription and billing information is sent to Microsoft via SSL. Microsoft does not store your credit card's verification number.

Use of information

Information collected by Equifax Credit Profile Service is used to provide the service to you, including billing you, and for maintaining, analyzing and improving the service.

Choice and control

Equifax Credit Profile Service is optional. If you do not sign up for the service, it will not collect information from you. Once you sign up for Equifax Credit Profile, you may access and modify your service settings and usage, or cancel your service, by logging in with your Windows Live ID credentials. If you cancel the service, you will be asked to provide a reason for cancellation. If you wish to modify your subscription to the service, you will need to supply your Windows Live ID credentials and to verify the information that you provided during registration for the service.

You can review and edit the personal information you provided during registration for the Equifax Credit Profile Service by using the service's Manage Credit Profile Service feature. You will be asked to supply your Windows Live ID credentials and to re-enter (or, if applicable, update) the information provided during registration.

Payroll Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

Payroll Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Payroll Services") is an optional add-in service in Microsoft Office Accounting that is provided by a third-party service provider. Payroll Services allows you to, for your own employees or on behalf of your clients, access and calculate payrolls, print checks and forms, and pay taxes electronically. You may also use Payroll Services to provide payroll information to the third-party service provider and to allow the third party to your company's payroll, or those of your clients, and to perform related functions on your behalf.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

Before you can use Payroll Services, you must choose a service plan and sign up for the service. When you select a service plan, you will be asked to provide your Windows Live ID credentials. Once you log in with your Windows Live ID credentials, you will be asked to provide your name, company name, e-mail address, telephone number, and address. You may also supply a promotion code, inform Microsoft of where you heard about Payroll Services, and choose whether to receive newsletters and announcements from Microsoft. This information is sent to Microsoft via SSL. You are then asked to provide payment information for the service, including credit card type, number, expiration date, card verification number (CVV2), name on the credit card, billing address, and telephone number.

After you verify your purchase of Payroll Services, you will need to sign in to a third-party service provider to proceed. You will be asked to log in with your Windows Live ID credentials. Once you sign in, the service provider may request several categories of information, such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, mother's maiden name, and birth date. You may also be asked to provide additional information, to select secret questions, to provide answers to those questions, and to select a password to access the third-party service. The information requested by the third-party service provider will not be sent to Microsoft.

The process to sign in to the third-party service, and your use of the third-party service, are controlled by the service provider and take place on the service provider's Web site. Any information that you provide to the service provider is subject to the service provider's privacy practices.

A cookie may be stored on your computer by the third-party service. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. A cookie is uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to use Payroll Services.

Payroll service for your company

When you sign in to the third-party service, the third-party service will synchronize with Microsoft Office Accounting. During this synchronization process, several categories of information about your company and employees are sent to and from Microsoft Office Accounting and the third-party service via SSL. The information includes, for each employee, the employee's name, ID number, address, telephone number, e-mail address, start and termination dates, birth date, type of employment, and timesheet data, together with the time and date on which any of this information was last modified. The information relating to your company includes a globally unique identifier (GUID), legal name, address, employer identification number (EIN), type of chart of account, classes, and the time and date on which any of this information was last modified. The GUID is a number randomly generated by the software that is used by the third-party service to associate your books with your service plan.

Payroll center for accountants

When you sign in to the third-party service, the third-party service will synchronize with Microsoft Office Accounting for the clients that you are running payroll for. During this synchronization process, information about these clients and their employees is sent to and from Microsoft Office Accounting and the third-party service via SSL. The information includes, for each client's employee, the employee's name, ID number, address, telephone number, e-mail address, start and termination dates, birth date, type of employment and timesheet data, together with the time and date on which any of this information was last modified. The information relating to the client includes a globally unique identifier (GUID), legal name, address, employer identification number (EIN), type of chart of account, classes, and the time and date on which any of this information was last modified.

Use of information

Information collected by Payroll Services is used to provide the service to you, including billing you, and for maintaining, analyzing and improving the service. The functionality of the service is provided by the third-party service discussed above. Please review that service's privacy policies to understand how it collects, uses and stores personal information that you provide.

Choice and control

Payroll Services is an optional service within Microsoft Office Accounting. It will not transmit information to Microsoft or any third parties unless you use it.

Online Banking for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

Online Banking for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Online Banking") is an optional service in Microsoft Office Accounting that allows you to pay suppliers, employees and/or other third parties through your existing banking relationships.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

Sign-up Process

Before you can use Online Banking, you must sign up for online banking at a bank that participates with Online Banking for Microsoft Office Accounting. When you first run Online Banking, you will be asked for information provided by your company's bank(s) about your existing online banking account(s). The information that you provide will be used to establish a connection with your company's bank(s) and to use the payment functionality provided by your bank(s) through Microsoft Office Accounting.

Submission

When you use Online Banking to submit a payment transaction, you will be asked to provide information needed to process the transaction, including the amount of the payment, the originating account number, the destination account number, and other payee information such as payee name, address, and telephone number. This information, together with your version of Microsoft Office Accounting, and your user name and password, is sent via SSL to your bank. Your bank will attempt to process your requested transaction, and will return via SSL transaction summary information to the Online Banking service for transaction billing purposes, including payee details and amount, check number for the payment, server transaction ID, and the date the payment will be processed on. If you choose to cancel a payment transaction, you will be asked to provide information to process the cancellation, including your user name and password and the server transaction ID for the payment transaction you wish to cancel. Microsoft Office Accounting will store information regarding payments you have requested and/or canceled using Online Banking, including account numbers, payment amounts, payment dates, and server transaction IDs in the Microsoft Office Accounting database and, if you choose to create them, in log files. You may also choose to store your online banking passwords (in encrypted format) in the Microsoft Office Accounting database.

Microsoft encourages you to review the privacy statements of third-party banks. Microsoft is not responsible for the privacy statements or privacy practices of third parties.

Use of information

Information collected by Online Banking is used to provide the service to you, including providing customer support, and to maintain, analyze and improve Online Baking and other Microsoft products and services.

Choice and control

Online Banking is an optional service within Microsoft Office Accounting. It will not transmit information to Microsoft or any third parties unless you use it.

PayPal PayNow for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

PayPal PayNow for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("PayPal PayNow") allows you to include buttons in the electronic invoices that you generate with Microsoft Office Accounting. Customers may click these buttons to visit PayPal's Web site and to make payments to your company online. You may import information regarding customers' payments from PayPal's Web site and match this information to outstanding invoices in Microsoft Office Accounting.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

To use PayPal PayNow, you must provide the e-mail address of your PayPal account and select a PayPal PayNow button. If you do not have a PayPal account, you are given the option to visit PayPal's Web site to create one. Once you provide the e-mail address of your PayPal account, you may select a PayPal PayNow button image. Your e-mail address and your image selection are stored in Microsoft Office Accounting.

PayPal PayNow offers the ability to import payment information that you downloaded from PayPal. To download payment information, you must follow the instructions on PayPal's Web site, and you may need a merchant account or to meet certain other PayPal requirements. After you download payment information from PayPal, you may import the payment information into Microsoft Office Accounting. To do so, click the PayPal tab and select Import Transactions to open the Import PayPal Payments wizard.

Use of information

Information collected by PayPal PayNow is used to provide the service to you and for maintaining, analyzing and improving the service.

Choice and control

PayPal PayNow is an optional feature within Microsoft Office Accounting. It does not collect any information from you unless you choose to use it.

Payment Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007

What this service does

Payment Services for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Payment Services") allows users to apply for merchant accounts with credit card processing services. The service also allows users to accept credit card payments and submit them for processing within Microsoft Office Accounting.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

Before you can use Payment Services, you must sign up for the service, apply for a merchant account, and be approved for the merchant account from your chosen provider. You must first sign in with your Windows Live ID. Next, after you indicate that you want to sign up for Payment Services, you will be asked to provide contact and demographic information about you and your company, such as name, address, credit card number and expiration date, and other information. This information, together with your software's product ID number, is sent to Microsoft via SSL.

After signing up for the service with Microsoft, you will be presented with one or more merchant account providers that are available for use with Payment Services. When you select a provider, your default Web browser will open to the provider's Web site. At the provider's site, you may apply for a merchant account. Any information that you provide to a merchant account provider is subject to that provider's privacy practices. After your application information is submitted and processed, the merchant will inform you of whether your application was approved or rejected. Some providers require you, if approved for a merchant account, to enter a confirmation code in Microsoft Office Accounting. If they do, they will provide the confirmation code to you.

If your company already processes credit cards using a Windows Live ID, you do not need to re-register for the service. Instead, you may re-associate your company with that Windows Live ID by entering it where indicated in Microsoft Office Accounting. It will be sent to Microsoft, where it will be matched with the company processing credit cards using that Windows Live ID.

When you use Payment Services to process a transaction, the service will request information needed to process the transaction, such as the cardholder's name and billing address and the credit card's type, number, expiration date, and card verification code (CCV2). This information, together with a transaction ID, is sent via SSL to the merchant account provider. Some merchant account providers will settle the transaction at the time of authorization. Those providers will return an authorization or rejection code, together with the transaction ID, to Payment Services. For authorized transactions, the authorization code and transaction ID, together with the cardholder's name, billing address, card type, and the last four digits of the credit card number, are sent to Microsoft via SSL.

Some other merchant account providers settle credit card transactions less frequently, such as once per day. For transactions using these providers, after the merchant account provider returns the transaction ID and authorization code to Microsoft, the cardholder's name, card type, card number, expiration date, and billing address are sent to Microsoft servers via SSL.

At settlement, a batch file containing information about various transactions is sent from Microsoft to the merchant account provider via SSL. This information includes the cardholder's name, card type, credit card number, and expiration date. After settlement, this information, with the credit card number truncated to the last four digits, is stored on Microsoft servers so that we can provide the service to you. You can retrieve this information later, to analyze your transactions. The CCV2 code is not sent to Microsoft and is not stored in Microsoft Office Accounting.

Use of information

Information collected by Payment Services is used to provide the service to you, including billing you, and for maintaining, analyzing and improving the service.

Choice and control

Payment Services is an optional service within Microsoft Office Accounting. It will not transmit information to Microsoft or any third parties unless you use it.

You may review records of transaction activity within Microsoft Office Accounting while logged in with your Windows Live ID credentials.

You may add new users authorized to access and use certain information and functionality within Payment Services. If you do so, you will be given the opportunity to select the access to information and Payment Services functions that should be given to the new user. Payment Services will generate a PIN, which the user must enter, after logging in with his or her Windows Live ID credentials, to access the categories of information and functionality you selected. When the user enters the PIN, Payment Services subsequently recognizes that user as having the access that you selected without needing to enter the PIN repeatedly.

Customer Experience Improvement Program

When you set up Small Business Accounting, you have the option of joining the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program to improve the quality, reliability, and performance of Microsoft software and services. If you decide to participate, we will collect anonymous information about your hardware configuration and how you use our software and services so that we can identify trends and usage patterns. We will not collect your name, address, or any other contact information. You will not be asked to complete any surveys, no salesperson will call, and you can continue working without interruption.

To participate in this program:

1. On the Help menu, click Customer Feedback Options.

2. Select Yes.

Read more about the Customer Experience Improvement Program.

Accountant Transfer

What this service does

Accountant Transfer for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 ("Accountant Transfer") is a service, integrated with Microsoft Office Live, which allows an accountant and client to use the Internet to share the client's books within Microsoft Office Accounting.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

If you are an accountant and wish to use Accountant Transfer's online features to receive and send your clients' books online, you must sign up for the service. You may sign up by selecting Sign Up for Online Transfer while in Accountant Mode in Microsoft Office Accounting. This will cause your default Web browser to open Microsoft Office Live, where you can sign up for a Microsoft Office Live account. The information that you provide to Microsoft while signing up for a Microsoft Office Live account is subject to the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement.

If you are using Accountant Transfer as an accountant, once you establish an Office Live account, you may invite your clients to share books with you in Microsoft Office Accounting. You will be able to access their books; however, they will not be able to access each others'. In order to set up online transfers, you must first obtain a copy of your client's Microsoft Office Accounting books offline. After you receive your clients' books, you may enable online sharing and select Send an invitation. An e-mail will be automatically generated in your e-mail client, which contains a URL containing the recipient's encrypted e-mail address. The recipient may click on this URL to access your Office Live Web site. The recipient will be asked to sign in with his or her Windows Live ID credentials. Once the client has verified his or her credentials, you may subsequently request books from the client, receive them, and return them, all from within Microsoft Office Accounting Accountant Navigator, which uses the Office Live Web service.

If you are a client whose accountant uses Accountant Transfer's online features, all you need to sign up is an invitation e-mail from your accountant and a Windows Live ID. When you receive the invitation e-mail, you may click on the URL in the e-mail to visit your accountant's private Web site on Microsoft Office Live. If you choose to send your books to your accountant using the online transfer feature in Microsoft Office Accounting, you will need to sign in with your Windows Live ID credentials and provide a strong password for accessing your books. Your books will be encrypted and stored on your accountant's Office Live site. To enable your accountant to access and decrypt your books, you will need to provide your accountant the strong password that you used for access to your books.

Use of information

Information collected by Accountant Transfer is used to provide the service to you and to maintain, analyze and improve the service. Some of the functionality of the service is provided by Microsoft Office Live. Please review the Microsoft Office Live Privacy Statement and the Office Live Terms of Service to understand how Office Live collects and uses your personal information and the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the service.

Choice and control

Accountant Transfer is an optional service within Microsoft Office Accounting. It will not transmit information to Microsoft or any third parties unless you choose to use it.

Spotlight

Spotlight displays offers, announcements and information in a panel within Microsoft Office Accounting. The content displayed in Spotlight is selected based on your company's industry, as provided when you registered the software, along with your license type. Spotlight is turned on by default and the content displayed is periodically updated when you launch Microsoft Office Accounting. To learn more about the Spotlight feature, see Microsoft Office Accounting Help.

Error Message Feedback

What this feature does

When you take an action that results in an error within Microsoft Office Accounting, such as attempting to save a blank transaction, you may receive a short error message. For some error messages, you will have the option to click a link indicating that the error message is not useful. You can then indicate what is wrong with the message, by selecting from available options or from entering content. Your choices and content, if applicable, as well as some information about the error message, is sent to Microsoft when you click Submit.

Information collected, processed or transmitted

The feature is used to report your feedback, together with information about the portion of Microsoft Office Accounting's code in which you were working when you received the error message.

Use of information

The data that Microsoft collects with this feature is used to evaluate and improve our error messages in Microsoft Office Accounting, as well as to identify and correct problems relating to error messages. Microsoft employees, contractors and vendors who have a business need to use this data are provided access.

Error Reporting

What this feature does

The Error Reporting feature provides a service which allows you to report problems that you may be having with Microsoft Office Accounting and, when available, to receive information that may help you solve the problems.

Information collected, processed, or transmitted

The Error Reporting service is used to report a wide variety of errors, and collects information about recent actions taken by you or the software application, such as: data related to your network connections, data about your physical machine, names, versions and copies of actual files, data contained in specific segments of memory, and data about the configuration and settings of software on your machine. The type of data and amount of data we request is dependent on the severity of the error and relevance of the data to troubleshooting the problem. You have the opportunity to review the specific data being sent with each report before you choose to send. The Error Reporting feature does not intentionally collect anyone's name, address, e-mail address, computer name, or any information that will be used to identify you or contact you. It is possible that such information may be captured in memory or in the data collected from open files, but Microsoft does not use it to identify you.

Use of information

The data that Microsoft collects is used to track down and solve problems that users are experiencing. Microsoft employees, contractors and vendors who have a business need to use the error report data are provided access. If the error report indicates that a third-party product is involved, Microsoft may send the data to the vendor of that product, who may in turn send the data to sub-vendors and partners.

For more details on what information is collected and how it is used, see the Microsoft Error Reporting Privacy Statement.