<p>Revelations in a Federal criminal complaint that Microsoft accessed the contents of a Hotmail account without a warrant brought a hailstorm of criticism down on the company last week. In response, Microsoft argued it was well within its rights under the terms of service and that the facts of the case were extraordinary. (See What's really behind Microsoft's investigation into software leaks? for details.)</p><p>But they also promised not to make one of those inspections again without calling in additional legal help.</p><p>Sorry, said the privacy and civil liberties community, that's not good enough. The most blistering critique came from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which called Microsoft's announcement "Warrants for Windows."</p><p>Unfortunately, this new policy just doubles down on ... Microsoft's indefensible and tone-deaf actions in the Kibkalo case. It begins with a false premise that courts do not issue orders in these circumstances because Microsoft was searching "itself," rather than the contents of its user's email on servers it controlled.</p><p><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-tightens-email-privacy-policy-after-taking-fire-over-hotmail-incident-7000027844/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/03/29/microsoft-changes-policy-won.html">Microsoft changes policy: won&#039;t read your Hotmail anymore to track down ...</a> (Boing Boing)</p><p><a href="http://recode.net/2014/03/28/microsoft-says-wont-read-your-hotmail-will-turn-you-into-cops-instead/">Microsoft Says Won&#039;t Read Suspected Pirates&#039; Hotmail, Will Turn Them In to ...</a> (Re/code)</p><p><a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-changes-policy-in-wake-of-hotmail-snooping/">Microsoft changes policy in wake of Hotmail snooping</a> (CNET)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dQ9CcWMCsSHZX0My0aSbPTD2eV0jM&authuser=0&ned=us">147 additional articles.</a></p>