Privacy lovers -- this should be required viewing for Windows 10

[Eric Veteran]

On 6/1/2016 at 5:26 PM, Hum said:

If you don't care about your files, private info, and browsing habits being uploaded to Microsoft, OK.

I don't care about that because it isn't happening. I also don't care that aliens are abducting my cats at night for the same reason.

[adrynalyne]

3 minutes ago, Eric said:

I don't care about that because it isn't happening. I also don't care that aliens are abducting my cats at night for the same reason.

Yeah but Hum knows the abduction happening. You just are an unbeliever. 

[FunkyMike]

23 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

 

Please dont start spreading this FUD again. I know you were absent for a while, but there is not one single, credible source that says they are uploading your files or private info. Also, since you were gone, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 all include the same telemetry, or what you guys call "spying," that 10 has.

The telemetry gathered in Windows 10 is like kittens compared to what XP used to do. XP used to transfer the file name, and file location and whenever you entered as a search parameter into the search box.

[Hum]

7 hours ago, trag3dy said:

It happens in every other "modern" OS too. This is neither new or interesting.

 

The part that is interesting is that people all of a sudden care about it in Windows 10.

The purpose of having a computer is to help ME -- not Microsoft.

[Hum]

Helpful hint: 

 

If you use the suggested Spybot anti-Beacon app, do not block Bing IPs -- you will not get thumbnails when you do an Image search.

[George P Global Moderator]

I'm not going to argue for telemetry or against it, the only thing I'll bring up is that Windows has had this for quite some time but only now do people complain about it.  It's in 8, it's in 7, it's in Vista and XP, hell probably all the way back to Windows 98 and the introduction of Windows Update.  

 

Other OSs do it, pretty sure my Android phone does it.   I don't quite see the issue here or what the new fuss is about.   Is it because of Cortana?  Info in Cortanas notebook about you is stored locally, it's not shared with MS, so that's not an issue, and Cortana, like Google Now and so on, can't work at all if they don't collect info, at least Cortana lets you go in and edit the info it does collect.   You can also set search to be just local, not the internet, again, passing a search string to bing.com or google.com isn't spying, we all enter searches into those engines on our own directly through the browser, searching for a website or a file in my mind is no different.

 

MS collecting anonymous error data and usages data (as far as what features are used most and what isn't) doesn't really give anything about you away.   If this was full blown spying, you'd think that after a year of it being on the market someone or some group would've raised the issue and taken MS to court.   But that's not happened, and instead we have FUD posts on different websites and 3rd party tin-foil-hat tools that change system settings.

 

The only part of Windows 10 I have a bit of an issue with is the limited WU controls, though if you're on Pro you can control it more through group policy, but then if WU is changed from it's install and ask for a restart time or automatic install settings, even in Pro, it breaks the Windows Store and app updates, something I've tested, which sucks.

[HawkMan]

On 1.6.2016 at 11:26 PM, Hum said:

If you don't care about your files, private info, and browsing habits being uploaded to Microsoft, OK.

good thing it doesn't then. 

[Osiris]

On the one hand you have those that suggest Windows10 is just a huge data mining OS and we should crack the tin foil hats, on the other hand you have those that say "its been happening for years" "its in every OS ever!" "if you have nothing to hide who gives a fk" etc.

 

I don't think either extreme is correct but lets get some things straight

• Parts of telemetry have been happening for years but you had more control over it
• Clearly something has changed (Cortana) and its not the same Telemetry that you had in Win7, otherwise MS wouldn't have updated the agreements, changed the controls or done anything to bring attention to it
• MS hasn't been the most forthcoming over exactly what data is collected, what its used for and how its stored, how long its stored for.
• Maybe OSX does this, maybe Android does it...neither of those make it right or wrong, and regurgitating that just proves your own apathy towards the topic.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Better dig up my old horse, Hum wants to beat it.

[trag3dy]

2 hours ago, Hum said:

The purpose of having a computer is to help ME -- not Microsoft.

I didn't say otherwise. I was just pointing out that this "spying" is not new.

[Hum]

I appreciate Microsoft making a smooth, fast Windows.

 

On the other hand, I am not going to respond to spam and pushy advertisers.

[BinaryData]

On 6/1/2016 at 2:23 PM, TAZMINATOR said:

If you are worried about the privacy, then you should get off the internet for good.

 

 

 

 

Lies. I wear my tinfoil hat.

[HawkMan]

27 minutes ago, Hum said:

I appreciate Microsoft making a smooth, fast Windows.

 

On the other hand, I am not going to respond to spam and pushy advertisers.

So even better then, telemetry has NOTHING to do with any of that. 

[Morisato]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

 

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/microsoft-gave-nsa-access-encrypted-090200620.html

 

Seeing how MS has already cooperated in the past with spy agencies, it's no surprise if they will again for anything else even if one were to call it 'telemetry'. Never too late to stay private even if it isn't full privacy. Anything to make it harder to collect data is a good step imo. Don't forget to disable sponsored adware tiles. MS is the only company that 'I' know of so far where you pay for a product/service and they still slap ads on it and has been successful so at it among the masses.

[HawkMan]

20 minutes ago, Morisato said:

MS is the only company that 'I' know of so far where you pay for a product/service and they still slap ads on it and has been successful so at it among the masses.

Not bought an android phone in the last 10 years have you ?

[Jim K Global Moderator]

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

On the one hand you have those that suggest Windows10 is just a huge data mining OS and we should crack the tin foil hats, on the other hand you have those that say "its been happening for years" "its in every OS ever!" "if you have nothing to hide who gives a fk" etc.

 

I don't think either extreme is correct but lets get some things straight

• Parts of telemetry have been happening for years but you had more control over it
• Clearly something has changed (Cortana) and its not the same Telemetry that you had in Win7, otherwise MS wouldn't have updated the agreements, changed the controls or done anything to bring attention to it
• MS hasn't been the most forthcoming over exactly what data is collected, what its used for and how its stored, how long its stored for.
• Maybe OSX does this, maybe Android does it...neither of those make it right or wrong, and regurgitating that just proves your own apathy towards the topic.

Just a few things.  Microsoft explains what data is collected and why.  They have various sources on their their site.  For example...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/windows-privacy-faq

https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement/

https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/privacy#windows10privacymodule

https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows10privacy

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/cortana-privacy-faq

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/manage/manage-connections-from-windows-operating-system-components-to-microsoft-services

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/default.aspx

https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/about

etc....

 

The problem is ... people throw up the "omg...Microsoft is spying on me" and then claiming that they are hiding something when they have plenty of disclosures on the interwebz.  They aren't hiding anything, they aren't spying on people...the data collected is for the betterment of Windows and the services it provides.  I don't understand the whole Cortana argument either ... how is she supposed to work if she doesn't send your input to Microsoft?  How does Siri work if she doesn't send data to Apple?  It is an online feature...and she can be turned off.

 

Anyway, no ... Microsoft isn't "spying" on anyone ... people get all up in arms by some random article or video on the web and thus believe it is fact ... without doing their own research.

 

Anyway...if you're really concerned about "privacy" ... disconnect your internet.  

[Mando]

6 hours ago, MikeChipshop said:

Better dig up my old horse, Hum wants to beat it.

could be worse mate, he could have wanted your monkey  (to spank) bad monkey bad monkey!

[TAZMINATOR]

5 hours ago, BinaryData said:

Lies. I wear my tinfoil hat.

Your tinfoil hat is junk.

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

People who worry about Windows 10 and privacy, and use an Android phone, probably should look at this....

https://history.google.com/history/audio

 

 

[PGHammer]

6 hours ago, Morisato said:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

 

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/microsoft-gave-nsa-access-encrypted-090200620.html

 

Seeing how MS has already cooperated in the past with spy agencies, it's no surprise if they will again for anything else even if one were to call it 'telemetry'. Never too late to stay private even if it isn't full privacy. Anything to make it harder to collect data is a good step imo. Don't forget to disable sponsored adware tiles. MS is the only company that 'I' know of so far where you pay for a product/service and they still slap ads on it and has been successful so at it among the masses.

If you want government contracts (and especially with the intelligence community - which large software outfits DO want), dang STRAIGHT you cooperate.  Microsoft is NOT alone in that - far from it - among the "cooperators/collaberators" is no less than RedHat, Inc. of Research Triangle Park, NC - and that is just with the NSA.  Do we - as individual users - benefit from that?  Surprisingly, the answer is an unqualified YES - on several fronts.

 

Benefit 1: Every OS available in the United States - including those that cost diddly-squat - gets hardened at no additional cost.  (By extension, that means that the operating systems that ALREADY didn't cost anything get hardened even further at an additional cost of none.  That includes not just all the Linux distributions but derivatives - such as Android and even non-commercial UNIX - such as OpenIndiana.)

 

Benefit 2: You as an individual are under a greater threat from criminals than your own government - even if you live in Russia or the People's Republic of China.  (Believe it or not, that rather scary thought comes from a story posted elsewhere on  Neowin just today about the crimeware/ransomware problem in Russia itself.  (As bad as governments are, the crooks are STILL worse.)

 

Benefit 3:  That same cooperation DOES actually DECREASE costs to the government (including, if not especially, the intelligence community) by enabling it to use more commercial/off-the-shelf (COTS) software - including Linux distributions, Android, etc., as opposed to expensive and proprietary closed-source software.  (Yes - Microsoft - and Windows NT in particular - benefitted rather large; however, due to decreased costs to the government, so did us citizens/taxpayers.)

[Morisato]

On 6/3/2016 at 5:52 AM, HawkMan said:

Not bought an android phone in the last 10 years have you ?

Not yet ^^