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That’s not how I remember it. I remember that malware was rampant on Windows back in the 90’s and early 00’s. And some of that malware probably did collect in

That’s not how I remember it. I remember that malware was rampant on Windows back in the 90’s and early 00’s. And some of that malware probably did collect information on you. Either way, the point I am trying to make is that desktop software is not as benign as you are making it out to be. And even some of the desktop operating systems have been doing telemetry or advertising related things in the OS itself. Ubuntu. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html Windows 7 and 8.1 telemetry. https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-makes-telemetry-updates-for-windows-7-and-8-1-critical-updates/ https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-makes-telemetry-updates-fo... Windows 10 built-in advertising. https://www.howtogeek.com/269331/how-to-disable-all-of-windows-10s-built-in-advertising/ https://www.howtogeek.com/269331/how-to-disable-all-of-windo... I don’t get why or how people put up with this bullshit.

badfrog 8y ago
Yeah, I remember when all the free applications you downloaded came bundled with sketchy browser toolbars and "virtual assistants" that they installed without telling you. It wasn't good times back then.
- dustindiamond 8y ago
  Bonzibuddy! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BonziBuddy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BonziBuddy
  - badfrog 8y ago
    That's it! I had forgotten the name.
darkpuma 8y ago
Back then it was widely recognized as malware, that wasn't a controversial classification. These days if you categorize such software as spyware/malware, you get a ton of pushback. It's become normalized. When did this happen? Obviously it was a gradual change, but when about was the inflection point? I'd estimate sometime around 2007.
- lotu 8y ago
  Malware and spyware wasn't generally sophisticated enough to do this type of data collection and targeting. This is a ton of work, as evidenced by the 10s (maybe 100s?) of thousands of engineers employed doing it today. The data Malware and spyware went after was your credit card number, and bank account & passwords. Which they then used to steal money from you. No one ever was worried that malware would build a profile of them and sell it to internet advertisers who would send them more relevant ads.

badfrog 8y ago

Yeah, I remember when all the free applications you downloaded came bundled with sketchy browser toolbars and "virtual assistants" that they installed without telling you. It wasn't good times back then.

dustindiamond 8y ago
Bonzibuddy! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BonziBuddy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BonziBuddy
- badfrog 8y ago
  That's it! I had forgotten the name.

darkpuma 8y ago

Back then it was widely recognized as malware, that wasn't a controversial classification. These days if you categorize such software as spyware/malware, you get a ton of pushback. It's become normalized. When did this happen? Obviously it was a gradual change, but when about was the inflection point? I'd estimate sometime around 2007.

lotu 8y ago
Malware and spyware wasn't generally sophisticated enough to do this type of data collection and targeting. This is a ton of work, as evidenced by the 10s (maybe 100s?) of thousands of engineers employed doing it today. The data Malware and spyware went after was your credit card number, and bank account & passwords. Which they then used to steal money from you. No one ever was worried that malware would build a profile of them and sell it to internet advertisers who would send them more relevant ads.