Microsoft Recovering Sidekick Data, Lawsuits Ensue

Microsoft has switched from saying T-Mobile Sidekick user data is "almost certainly" gone to "most, if not all" data will be recovered. But the lawyers are already circling.

There’s no doubt that it’s been a bad couple weeks for T-Mobile Sidekick users, with Microsoft and T-Mobile announcing earlier this week, after days of spotty service, that personal data stored on the service had “almost certainly” been lost. But now there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel: Microsoft’s Roz Ho—formerly head of Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit and now corporate VP for Microsoft’s Premium Mobile Services division—says that Microsoft has recovered “most, if not all, customer data”. Microsoft says it is working with T-Mobile to restore user data as fast as it can, starting with personal contacts. After that, the restoration process will move on to calendars, notes, to-do items, photographs, and those all-important gaming high scores.

“We apologize for this situation and the inconvenience that it has created. Please know that we are working all-out to resolve this situation and restore the reliability of the service,” Ho said in a statement.

T-Mobile and Microsoft are being very vague about the number of Sidekick users who were impacted by the data loss issue, noting only that it believes a “minority” of Sidekick customers were affected. The companies are also being criticized for lack of transparency about the data loss, the nature of the problem, and what customers could do.

In the meantime, impacted Sidekick users may be getting their data back, but they almost certainly won’t be regaining their faith in storing personal data on remote services, or any of the time lost to trying to rebuild their contacts list or manage their devices. Microsoft says customers who experience “permanent and significant” data loss over this issue will receive a $100 Customer Appreciation Card.

In the meantime, lawyers have already begun circling, with a number of lawsuits being lodged against T-Mobile, Microsoft, and Microsoft subsidiary Danger claiming negligence and false claims regarding the Sidekick service. This pending litigation may have something to do with why Microsoft is being tight-lipped about the nature of the problem and how many customers have been impacted.