A Quick Guide to Privacy in Windows XP (SP1)

[jamend]

Don't get me wrong, I think your guide was pretty good for some general privacy concerns, but I think it also included a bit of disinformation that could have been left out... Windows XP does not have a "call home" feature, and the closest thing to it is the automatic time synchronization. The other things really should have just been put under the context of protecting user privacy in general. Temporary internet files and cookies are an issue with any site, and they will not have any effect on a computer that is just idle while being connected to the internet. Internet Explorer's automatic update feature is already disabled by default. Error Reporting only asks you if you want to send a report, and it won't do anything if you tell it not to. Automatic Updates in SP1 are also disabled by default, and in SP2 you are prompted after installation on whether you want to enable or disable them. Windows Media Player will also do nothing until the first time you start it, in which case it runs a quick wizard which prompts you about all of the internet connection and privacy settings. Even the time sync feature is generally harmless because it uses a standard time-syncing protocol and it can easily be configured to use an alternative time server. The most Microsoft could do with it is collect anonymous usage statistics by monitoring how many connections are made to its time server. You said that "many users simply don't know the extent of Windows XP's 'call home' features out of the box", but I don't think you've helped much.