5 ms·

You know you can turn those ads off, right?

by Delmania 9y ago

jrcii 9y ago
Why should you have to?
- ksk 9y ago
  The default exists because not everyone has the same reaction to the telemetry as you. For those who do, they have some means of bypassing that (for now).
- bocklund 9y ago
  Because Microsoft paid a lot of people to develop and maintain a software they gave away for free to users?
  - selectodude 9y ago
    If Microsoft let me buy Windows without that, I would have paid for it. Alas, If I spend $200 on Windows 10, I get the same tracking landmines than the person who spent 0 a few years ago.
  - jug 9y ago
    That they have given an ad ridden OS away for free is their problem, not something they were forced to.
  - fatbird 9y ago
    A free version with ads and telemetry isn't free, it's just monetized differently. And the vast majority of the cost of developing it is either sunk or defrayed by the paid versions.
vetinari 9y ago
But not the telemetry or tracking.
- hungerstrike 9y ago
  Yes you can. Anyway, how many UWP apps are you running? Do you think every Win32 desktop app is now magically tracking you? Nope. So, let's compare how many UWP apps that you actually want to run (I don't use any of them) and see if they're tracking you as much as all the mobile apps you're running. There's no contest here.
  - vetinari 9y ago
    The problem with Windows tracking is not that apps track you (here the solution would be easy: just don't use the apps), but that the system itself snitches on you. Are you starting an app or search for document, using the windows shell? Your phrase goes to Bing. That's much harder to avoid than just not using an app.
    - hungerstrike 9y ago
      None of that happens if you only use Basic telemetry and if you disable Cortana or the Cortana option to "Search online and include web results". So, the only tracking you're left with is the kind that comes packaged in UWP apps.
      - vetinari 9y ago
        I did disable Cortana (it doesn't even work in the language version I want to use), but according to the firewall, it still tries to connects to bing.com. So much for "disabling".
  - muro 9y ago
    They can track network connections or system calls for Win32. Also which DLLs the apps use. Any DLLs provided by MS can be instrumented and track any information that goes through them.
  - DrPhish 9y ago
    It actually turns out that you can't. [0] You are able to turn it down to "Basic" using the GUI, and if you are using the enterprise edition thru corporate volume licensing you can turn it down further to "Security" with admin tools. There is no way to turn it off completely, and since its cranked up by default, that is where it will stay for the majority of installations. As an anecdote, even Microsoft employees I've spoken with think it's overreaching and underhanded. [0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/configure-windows-telemetry-in-your-organization https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/confi... edit : clarification on corporate option
bobwaycott 9y ago
That’s the problem—you have to turn them off.

You know you can turn those ads off, right?

jrcii 9y ago

Why should you have to?

ksk 9y ago
The default exists because not everyone has the same reaction to the telemetry as you. For those who do, they have some means of bypassing that (for now).
bocklund 9y ago
Because Microsoft paid a lot of people to develop and maintain a software they gave away for free to users?
- selectodude 9y ago
  If Microsoft let me buy Windows without that, I would have paid for it. Alas, If I spend $200 on Windows 10, I get the same tracking landmines than the person who spent 0 a few years ago.
- jug 9y ago
  That they have given an ad ridden OS away for free is their problem, not something they were forced to.
- fatbird 9y ago
  A free version with ads and telemetry isn't free, it's just monetized differently. And the vast majority of the cost of developing it is either sunk or defrayed by the paid versions.

vetinari 9y ago

But not the telemetry or tracking.

hungerstrike 9y ago
Yes you can. Anyway, how many UWP apps are you running? Do you think every Win32 desktop app is now magically tracking you? Nope. So, let's compare how many UWP apps that you actually want to run (I don't use any of them) and see if they're tracking you as much as all the mobile apps you're running. There's no contest here.
- vetinari 9y ago
  The problem with Windows tracking is not that apps track you (here the solution would be easy: just don't use the apps), but that the system itself snitches on you. Are you starting an app or search for document, using the windows shell? Your phrase goes to Bing. That's much harder to avoid than just not using an app.
  - hungerstrike 9y ago
    None of that happens if you only use Basic telemetry and if you disable Cortana or the Cortana option to "Search online and include web results". So, the only tracking you're left with is the kind that comes packaged in UWP apps.
    - vetinari 9y ago
      I did disable Cortana (it doesn't even work in the language version I want to use), but according to the firewall, it still tries to connects to bing.com. So much for "disabling".
- muro 9y ago
  They can track network connections or system calls for Win32. Also which DLLs the apps use. Any DLLs provided by MS can be instrumented and track any information that goes through them.
- DrPhish 9y ago
  It actually turns out that you can't. [0] You are able to turn it down to "Basic" using the GUI, and if you are using the enterprise edition thru corporate volume licensing you can turn it down further to "Security" with admin tools. There is no way to turn it off completely, and since its cranked up by default, that is where it will stay for the majority of installations. As an anecdote, even Microsoft employees I've spoken with think it's overreaching and underhanded. [0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/configure-windows-telemetry-in-your-organization https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/confi... edit : clarification on corporate option

bobwaycott 9y ago

That’s the problem—you have to turn them off.