4 ms·

I'm going to hold off on the "free upgrade" to Windows 10 until I can find a trustworthy and comprehensive blog post on how I can disable all of the privacy-inv

by kijin 11y ago

I'm going to hold off on the "free upgrade" to Windows 10 until I can find a trustworthy and comprehensive blog post on how I can disable all of the privacy-invading "features". Not linking a Microsoft account with the local account seems to be a good starting point. I also plan to do my best to get rid of OneDrive and Cortana, neither of which I have any use for. But I have no idea how to go about discovering and tackling all the other possible channels for data leakage, which we're bound to hear about in the days and weeks to come. Free upgrade means you're no longer a customer. It's a cliche, but it fits perfectly this time. Some of the things I'd like to disable will probably require upgrading to the Pro edition, which of course is only available to paying customers.

kardos 11y ago
It's a valiant effort, but you're navigating a privacy minefield. Even if you find/disable all the known things, a single windows update can introduce a new opt-out "feature" that undoes it all. Your effort might be better spent migrating to a less invasive system. "Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once – you will have to be lucky always."
- kijin 11y ago
  Well, I guess it's inevitable as long as I'm using a proprietary operating system. I don't expect Apple to be any better. Heck, even Ubuntu nowadays comes with ads that you need to opt out of. At least if I get Windows 10 Pro, I'll be able to turn off non-security-related updates.
  - kardos 11y ago
    > Heck, even Ubuntu nowadays comes with ads that you need to opt out of. No longer true. Canonical took a lot of (deserved) flak for making that feature opt-out, and last year they finally fixed it [1]. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-make-amazon-product-results-opt-unity http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-make-amazon-produc...
    - danieldk 11y ago
      Are you sure? IIRC the last LTS version I tried (14.04) still has Amazon search on by default.
      - kardos 11y ago
        Actually, no. That article was dated Mar 31, 2014, so I assumed that they switched the configuration option by 14.10. .... but some searching indicates that they won't get around to disabling online searches by default until Unity 8 is default in Ubuntu. It seems that Unity 8 won't be default until 16.04 [1] or later [2]. So I rescind my previous statement. Canonical deserves as much scorn as you can dish out for disregarding their users' privacy for 3 years and counting. [1] http://mhall119.com/2014/10/unity-8-desktop/ http://mhall119.com/2014/10/unity-8-desktop/ [2] http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-16-04-LTS-Won-t-Have-Unity-8-by-Default-the-Community-Will-Decide-480129.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-16-04-LTS-Won-t-Have-U...

by kijin 11y ago

kardos 11y ago

It's a valiant effort, but you're navigating a privacy minefield. Even if you find/disable all the known things, a single windows update can introduce a new opt-out "feature" that undoes it all. Your effort might be better spent migrating to a less invasive system. "Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once – you will have to be lucky always."

kijin 11y ago
Well, I guess it's inevitable as long as I'm using a proprietary operating system. I don't expect Apple to be any better. Heck, even Ubuntu nowadays comes with ads that you need to opt out of. At least if I get Windows 10 Pro, I'll be able to turn off non-security-related updates.
- kardos 11y ago
  > Heck, even Ubuntu nowadays comes with ads that you need to opt out of. No longer true. Canonical took a lot of (deserved) flak for making that feature opt-out, and last year they finally fixed it [1]. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-make-amazon-product-results-opt-unity http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-make-amazon-produc...
  - danieldk 11y ago
    Are you sure? IIRC the last LTS version I tried (14.04) still has Amazon search on by default.
    - kardos 11y ago
      Actually, no. That article was dated Mar 31, 2014, so I assumed that they switched the configuration option by 14.10. .... but some searching indicates that they won't get around to disabling online searches by default until Unity 8 is default in Ubuntu. It seems that Unity 8 won't be default until 16.04 [1] or later [2]. So I rescind my previous statement. Canonical deserves as much scorn as you can dish out for disregarding their users' privacy for 3 years and counting. [1] http://mhall119.com/2014/10/unity-8-desktop/ http://mhall119.com/2014/10/unity-8-desktop/ [2] http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-16-04-LTS-Won-t-Have-Unity-8-by-Default-the-Community-Will-Decide-480129.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-16-04-LTS-Won-t-Have-U...