Well worth a read on Wednesday - and you really can get it via RVWS <GO> on the terminal - Bloomberg has released the review of how its journalists interacted with terminal users" data: Compiled by Promontory and Hogan Lovells, the report covers that UUID function. Here's an excerpt: Last login information. Many of the Newspersons that Hogan Lovells interviewed acknowledged using UUID to view a terminal user's last login date and time. Newspersons offered two primary reasons for accessing this data. First, some Newspersons noted that they tried to avoid making unnecessary phone calls when contacting individuals, as they did not want to alert assistants or others that those individuals were communicating with Bloomberg reporters. By using UUID to see if an individual was logged into the terminal, Newspersons had a greater chance of reaching those individuals at their desks. Second, Newspersons stated that they used UUID as part of their newsgathering process. Some of the heavy users of UUID acknowledged that it was a useful feature of UUID to be able to see when a potential subject of an article had last logged in. Several of the Newspersons interviewed said they used UUID login information to help them develop articles about the movement of financial firm employees. For example, several reporters said that if they received a tip that an individual had been fired or was leaving for another company, they would check UUID login data to see if there was any support for this tip. If UUID login data showed that the individual had not logged on for a period of days or weeks, the Newspersons would then proceed to look for additional information to confirm the initial tips. Except for the episode involving a Bloomberg Television anchor that is discussed separately in this Report there was no indication that UUID login data served as a "cited source" or was approved as an "anonymous source" under Bloomberg's strict sourcing rules. The episode with the Bloomberg TV anchor is a pretty high-profile one incidentally - using UUID data to help identify Kweku Adoboli live on air as the UBS rogue trader in September 2011. The review does note that this was treated as a violation and escalated to senior management pretty quickly. However - there still seems to have been a lack of attention to the issue after that point: Newspersons did not report that they were aware of any attempt to restrict access to UUID prior to the events of April 2013. Only one Newsperson recalled discussions about whether the use of UUID by journalists was appropriate. In general, UUID use was either encouraged or viewed as a non-issue by editors and team leaders. Many Newspersons stated that the general view in the newsroom was that if journalists had access to a terminal function, it was appropriate to use that function for newsgathering... Kudos for the transparency though. There's much else in the report, including discussion of an incident involving journalists" access to anonymous chat rooms. Bloomberg's now banned the practice. Related links: How to snoop on your customers, the Bloomberg way - FT Alphaville Oh, my lovely Bloomberg, will we ever be the same again? - FT Alphaville