In response to criticism from “I.T. Managers,” Microsoft has apparently removed the newest addition to their download site. Private folders was a nifty little utility users could download that would allow them to encrypt some of their private data such that other users of a system could not read it. Obviously, there’s nothing groundbreaking about this functionality. Free utilities that perform just as well abound; anyone who’d like to keep their data private has many options. The strange thing about this whole affair is that some “I.T. Managers” felt the need to gripe to Microsoft about the matter. Moreover, they were loud enough that Microsoft caved and removed the download!

I hate to knock hard-working I.T. folks. Managing a company’s systems is fraught with challenges. Sometimes it’s difficult just to keep the lights on. But any “I.T. Manager” who complained to Microsoft about this utility is surely not doing his or her job. Microsoft has provided I.T. departments with facilities to control who can and can’t install software for many years now. These facilities are actually pretty good in Windows XP, which is required for Private Folder. The fact is, if a user cannot be trusted not to expose your business to increased risk of data loss by installing and running this utility, that user should be prohibited from installing software on your systems and you should refuse to install this software on them. End of story. Any manager who allows this type of user to install software is neglecting to manage their infrastructure.