The nonprofit online privacy monitoring group TRUSTe has criticized Microsoft Corp. for a Windows 98 feature that allows information to be secretly collected from Internet users. However, TRUSTe officials have decided not to pursue an independent audit of the software giant, which also happens to be a financial contributor to the agency, the New York Times reports.

The decision raises questions not only about TRUSTe's independence as a monitoring group, but also about the failure of the computer industry to regulate itself when it comes to online user privacy, the Times reports.

TRUSTe's report on the Microsoft/Windows 98 controversy says the company violated consumer trust by allowing the collection of user data, even when Win98 users asked for online privacy.

The Santa Barbara, Calif-based nonprofit group decided not to ask for an independent audit because it contends a Microsoft user-privacy statement that appears on the company's Web site applies only to the Microsoft Web site. The site does not collect data from visitors who request privacy.

Microsoft has contributed $100,000 to TRUSTe operations, the newspaper reports.

Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters Corp. and the person who filed the original Windows 98 complaint with TRUSTe, has called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Microsoft's actions because "self-regulation has failed," he told the Times.