Microsoft has adopted an unusual approach to community building - by disclosing the personal information of thousands of applicants for a Visual Studio web promotion.
Despite being alerted to the privacy breach, the personal details of several thousand individuals are still online.
The site, hosted by Washington DC-based marketing company MHI Communications, encouraged developers to register for a VS.NET DVD. Applicants submitted personal information, including email addresses, telephone numbers and what Microsoft products they used. This information was publicly available until earlier this afternoon, when the company was informed of the security snafu.