Planning the Future of Privacy at Microsoft 138
Tony writes "Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist, found himself in the front line in the wake of the software giant's recent antipiracy controversy. He talks about his role at the company, and what's in store for the future." From the interview: "Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist, has been very involved with the issue and readily admits that the software maker dropped the ball on WGA Notifications. The flap puts him on the front line, rather than his usual role behind the scenes. For the most part, Cullen, who joined Microsoft three years ago from the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, is happy with his role at the software giant. He works on things such as guidelines for developers and privacy policies."
Planning.. (Score:5, Funny)
new policy: "don't get caught so easily" (Score:5, Funny)
Privacy at Microsoft (Score:4, Funny)
The roll-out strategy (Score:2, Funny)
"In other words," continued Peter Cullen, "freedom is the right of all sentient beings."
Why is it (Score:5, Funny)
It's not like we're going to see, any time soon, Steve Ballmer, or some other sedate Microsoft exec, dancing around the stage, shouting at the top of their lungs
"Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! Privacy! "
but stranger things have happened.
Privacy... Microsoft? Hah. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Privacy... Microsoft? Hah. (Score:3, Funny)
Their solution... (Score:3, Funny)
Planning the future of Piracy at Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Off topic, but... (Score:5, Funny)
One Day in the life of Peter Cullen (Score:2, Funny)
10:40am - Wake up with a start. Shit! Call the office to let them know that I'm going to be slightly delayed this morning due to an ongoing alien attack. I tell them I'm as keen as hell to be safeguarding users' privacy and all that, but they cut me off at this point and say that I shouldn't worry, take my time getting in, maybe take the day off until the invasion's been repelled? It's really tempting, but there's been too many days like that just lately. I tell them I'll be sure to lock the car doors, keep the windows wound up and take the back routes. "Whatever" they reply...
11:30am - Arrive at the office. Still haven't got a working network socket in my office and no phone either. Last week I tracked down a comms tech and told him about the network socket, he said he had special instructions about my connection and he just hit the wall socket with a big hammer and left. The phone guy saw me approaching and I swear he sprinted into a building and when I tried to follow , my swipecard wouldn't work for that area. How the hell am I supposed to get anything done. Not much point starting anything just yet - it's almost time for lunch.
11:45 - Damn! How was that supposed to be a mine, I mean right there?
12:30 - Lunch. I do hate eating alone, but to date I've attended precisely zero meetings, met my immediate report only once (on the day I arrived) and thus far I haven't met a single other person in the area I work. Every time I step out of my office and wander the halls, all the office doors are closed, usually with a "Do Not Disturb" sign too. There must be a mighty crunch under way.
14:00 - Return to the office. I'm still slightly worried by the lack of direction I'm being given regarding my role and responsibilities. I know MS have some offbeat management practises, so maybe they're creating a situation where I've got to define the role myself. A sort of initiative test, if you will?
15:00 - I've only got a black and white monitor, so how am I supposed to know that I was trying to put a red queen on a black king for half an hour?
15:15 - A guy from maintenance shows up and tells me that my office needs to be treated for cockroaches with some sort of bug-bomb. Apparently it's harmful to humans, so I'm to work from home for the next two weeks while the residues evaporate. Sweet!
16:00 - Home sweet home, and a couple of weeks where I can kick back a little and give some really hard thought about a strategy to safeguard user's privacy. Check the fridge and as usual the two cases of beer have been delivered courtesy of MS. I tell you it's not the easiest company to work for, but the perks are phenomenal! All this booze is ok for me, as my role is agile and flexible, but I sometimes wonder how all the programming dudes manage to stay on track with all this free beer? Pop, fizz, ahhhhh!
16:30 - "What do we mean by *privacy*?" Pop, fizz.
17:15 - "There must be a strategy.." pop, fizz.
19:00 - Damn, I'm tired.
22:00 - My God! The room is spinning, whirling, lurching from side to side! I told you it was a goddam mistake to stand, but would you listen?
22:07 - Bed. Better keep that bucket there again.
Classified ad... somewhere in western Oregon (Score:2, Funny)
i couldn't resist...
Re:Off topic, but... (Score:3, Funny)