4 ms·

VSCode still sends search keystrokes to Microsoft with telemetry disabled

49 points by siddhant 8y ago

djsumdog 8y ago
I use Atom quite a bit and I'm now curious if it phones home as well. Guess it's time to get out Wireshark.
- mindcrash 8y ago
  It does, but only when you opt-in to have telemetry gathered. Introduced in Atom 1.11: https://blog.atom.io/2016/10/11/atom-1-11.html https://blog.atom.io/2016/10/11/atom-1-11.html
throwawaymanbot 8y ago
uggggh.... truly a joke. What times we live in. Literally nothing is safe from this wrong headed engineering thinking.
Maarten88 8y ago
I think that with the preview versions of most Microsoft software you get telemetry that can't be disabled. I guess Microsoft thinks that is a fair exchange: you get free software to test early, they get test data. The released versions have less telemetry and opt-in or out that should work.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
Analemma_ 8y ago
Sigh, this again. Microsoft is very upfront about this. Right on the download page for the nightly build is this link: https://code.visualstudio.com/license/insiders https://code.visualstudio.com/license/insiders and it says > DATA. The software may collect information about you and your use of the software, and send that to Microsoft. Microsoft may use this information to provide services and improve our products and services. For this pre-release version, users cannot opt out of data collection. (emphasis mine)
- indemnity 8y ago
  That’s not a great example of upfront, who reads licenses or license agreements? I’ve been using VSCode for more than a year, including pre-release versions and had no idea this was happening. If I was asked for consent it was not very clear that keystrokes were included in the data being sent to Microsoft. Is this GDPR compliant? I would think not, since you can’t just squirrel things away in a dense user agreement and claim you’ve met the bar.
  - harrygeez 8y ago
    You clearly do not use the nightly version to judge. They literally inform you this, not hidden in any TOS, like really straight up telling you you can't disable telemetry on Nightlies. They even told you that you can compile your own, which will include none of the telemetry
- OnlyRepliesToBS 8y ago
  What the shit kind of argument is that? No, this moving line in the sand is NOT OK, even if they grant themselves permission to do so.
- dbuder 8y ago
  "may use this information to provide services and improve our products and services" This is a bit broad though isn't it? They could argue they can use any code you enter into VSCode without paying you.
Guillaume86 8y ago
Meh, it's just the search in the settings page (see https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2018/04/25/bing-settings-search https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2018/04/25/bing-settings...), and there's a setting to disable it: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/49161 https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/49161
opencl 8y ago
Semi-related but the new Windows update also made it impossible to disable Bing searches in the Start menu.
- aforty 8y ago
  privacy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
bni 8y ago
As a consumer (not businesses) You pay for Microsoft software with personal data, that has been clear for a while. See also Windows 10.

49 points by siddhant 8y ago

djsumdog 8y ago

I use Atom quite a bit and I'm now curious if it phones home as well. Guess it's time to get out Wireshark.

mindcrash 8y ago
It does, but only when you opt-in to have telemetry gathered. Introduced in Atom 1.11: https://blog.atom.io/2016/10/11/atom-1-11.html https://blog.atom.io/2016/10/11/atom-1-11.html

throwawaymanbot 8y ago

uggggh.... truly a joke. What times we live in. Literally nothing is safe from this wrong headed engineering thinking.

Maarten88 8y ago

I think that with the preview versions of most Microsoft software you get telemetry that can't be disabled. I guess Microsoft thinks that is a fair exchange: you get free software to test early, they get test data. The released versions have less telemetry and opt-in or out that should work.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

Analemma_ 8y ago

Sigh, this again. Microsoft is very upfront about this. Right on the download page for the nightly build is this link: https://code.visualstudio.com/license/insiders https://code.visualstudio.com/license/insiders and it says > DATA. The software may collect information about you and your use of the software, and send that to Microsoft. Microsoft may use this information to provide services and improve our products and services. For this pre-release version, users cannot opt out of data collection. (emphasis mine)

indemnity 8y ago
That’s not a great example of upfront, who reads licenses or license agreements? I’ve been using VSCode for more than a year, including pre-release versions and had no idea this was happening. If I was asked for consent it was not very clear that keystrokes were included in the data being sent to Microsoft. Is this GDPR compliant? I would think not, since you can’t just squirrel things away in a dense user agreement and claim you’ve met the bar.
- harrygeez 8y ago
  You clearly do not use the nightly version to judge. They literally inform you this, not hidden in any TOS, like really straight up telling you you can't disable telemetry on Nightlies. They even told you that you can compile your own, which will include none of the telemetry
OnlyRepliesToBS 8y ago
What the shit kind of argument is that? No, this moving line in the sand is NOT OK, even if they grant themselves permission to do so.
dbuder 8y ago
"may use this information to provide services and improve our products and services" This is a bit broad though isn't it? They could argue they can use any code you enter into VSCode without paying you.

Guillaume86 8y ago

Meh, it's just the search in the settings page (see https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2018/04/25/bing-settings-search https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2018/04/25/bing-settings...), and there's a setting to disable it: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/49161 https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/49161

opencl 8y ago

Semi-related but the new Windows update also made it impossible to disable Bing searches in the Start menu.

aforty 8y ago
privacy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

bni 8y ago

As a consumer (not businesses) You pay for Microsoft software with personal data, that has been clear for a while. See also Windows 10.