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Microsoft to Alter Software in Response to Privacy Concerns (1999)
- samspenc 11y agoI just got a new PC with Windows 10, replacing an older PC laptop that's a Windows 7 / Ubuntu dual-boot. (I'm running Ubuntu from a VM this time.) Anyway, Windows 10: I was a bit shocked at all the information it sends back to Microsoft. As soon as the setup screen comes up, it gives you an option to choose "Express Install" or "Custom Install". I chose "Custom Install", and there were about 10 privacy settings that I turned off (all on by default) before I felt comfortable using the OS. (Examples: send all search words back to MS, tie advertising info to your Windows account, etc etc) I'm assuming most users would chose the "Express Install" without even wondering about what data they were sending back to MS.
- tedunangst 11y agoIronic that your other choice is Ubuntu. They pioneered sending back all your search terms (to Amazon).
- samspenc 11y agoYes, I make sure to turn off that first thing when I run Ubuntu. :)
- ekianjo 11y ago> They pioneered sending back all your search terms (to Amazon). You don't have to use Unity to use Ubuntu. There is an abundant choice of WMs on Linux. And besides, even if you had this turned on, it's about nothing compared to what Microsoft does.
- electic 11y agoI agree. I was quite shocked myself and I also found the descriptions vague. I wasn't even sure what programs are accessing the data. I really think iOS is the only OS has really done permissions right on the 3rd party level and on the OS level.
- anonbanker 11y agoA linux distro with sane defaults, robust wine scripts, and no personal information compromises, that is easy to install, could take over the world. I vote KaOS as the base: http://kaosx.us http://kaosx.us
- electic 11y agoThis looks really good, will give it a spin. Thanks for the heads up!
- dublinben 11y agoIn my experience, Debian is easier to install than a recent version of Windows. I think it's an excellent choice for almost everyone.
- anonbanker 11y agoI would have said Debian up to the whole Jessie debacle with systemd and abandoning core precepts. Now I have to recommend a different base. I've never done a graphical debian install. how does it compare to KaOS?
- jerrac 11y agoHave you run into any articles that detail exactly what is captured and sent off of your computer? Has Microsoft release more than just a little bit of information on what they use that info for? Not just what the setting screen and privacy policy say.
- jlgaddis 11y agoIt will be impossible to know and/or verify what they're actually sending. Even if they told us exactly what the data contains, though, who will believe them? Besides, we already know what they'll say: they'll use it for debugging and troubleshooting, to make the products better, and to enhance your user experience. In certain circumstances, they may share the data -- but only with their trusted partners, of course. In no way, however, will they use it for anything "evil".
- ams6110 11y agoFor that matter, it's really just a matter of faith that the settings completely disable the sending of this information (or disable it at all).
- jerrac 11y agoYep. Sadly, the only way to be one hundred percent sure your data is private is to keep it in your head. Even building your own chipsets and other components doesn't protect from physical access. So we have to choose who to trust. Currently, that's not Microsoft. If they open sourced, or at least made the code visible, Windows, I'd be a lot happier. 'Course, then I'd have to trust that the people reviewing the code knew what they were doing. Since I'd not spend the time to review the code myself....
- jerrac 11y agoI don't think it's impossible. Can't you intercept the traffic via a router or something to see what's in it? "...what they'll say..." They already said that in their privacy policy. I was wondering if they had released more details. Like "We record your voice commands and add them to a database of millions of other people making the same command so Cortana can understand people better." And, "Our voice interpretation service is provided by a trusted partner. They signed a contract that requires they take this step and this step to keep your data secure."
- PaulKeeble 11y agoIt is actually a very similar list to that seen in Windows 8. Windows 8 was a little bit more sneaky however, when you chose custom they were all disabled but if you select express they were enabled. You haven't done all the things necessary to defend your privacy yet, Windows 10 has spread this stuff all over the operating system, its all enabled by default and you need to find it all.
- sdrinf 11y agoIs there a checklist available on the settings people might perceive as privacy violation, their operational implication, and howto disable it?
- broham 11y agoThis is one of the better ones I've seen: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/30/windows-10-privacy-settings/ http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/30/windows-10-privac...
- mendelk 11y agoI've seen this posted before, though I can't vouch for its quality: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how...
- captainmuon 11y agoMost of these settings are probably related to Cortana (the new Siri/Google Now like feature in Windows 10). These kind of tools that suggest information to you only really work if they have your search and location information. If you turn those options off, I guess the only thing that will be affected will be Cortana. Also, the thing where apps may share a common advertising ID? Sounds invasive, but is actually a tiny step towards more privacy: before, apps (i.e. desktop programs) could access basically any information on your PC: Your name, your address if you entered it anywhere, your contact list, possibly your position. Nowadays, "Modern" apps can only identify you via an pseudonymous ID (if you allow it), unless they have the proper permissions. What does annoy me is that they still obscure these settings, and fail to explain what exactly they are for. At least they made it a bit more obvious in Windows 10 that you can use it without creating a Microsoft account (using a local account). There is a saying in Germany: Nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked.
- 0x0 11y agoI seem to vaguely remember some internet story about how these embedded UUIDs were used to de-mask a person by matching an UUID from a document with a known author against an incriminating document. Or was it matching an Ethernet card's MAC address to an UUID in the .doc? Can't remember any details now.
- shillno1138 11y agoThere is very little anonymity in the real world in terms of computing at this point. You would have to be extremely careful to truly mask any electronic media being used as any kind of communication platform, online or offline.
- ojno 11y agoI think you're thinking of the Melissa virus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(computer_virus) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(computer_virus) which did indeed get tracked back to its author like that.
- 0x0 11y agoThat's it! Thanks for the reminder.
- h4ckerish 11y agoNot so long ago people were concerned about CPU id. http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i224/s99/GroupJ/whitepaper.pdf http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i224/s99/GroupJ/whitepap...
- aresant 11y agoI am nostalgic for a Windows I can PAY for that minimizes my participation in the "I am the product" monetization world.
- jacobrb 11y agoThat day has come and gone thanks to other companies and closed ecosystems like Apple
- tdkl 11y agoLast time I checked you pay everything you get from Apple and keep the data locally without surveillance as a service.
- echu_marbdan 11y agoThat's a false dichotomy nowadays. Corporations have learned that, even if you pay, they can still get away with having you be the product. For that matter, Windows 10 isn't free for a bunch of people either, while FOSS, which is typically as far as you can get from being the product, is most often gratis.
- bymafmaf 11y agoYeah, old days. Now when installing Windows 10, we have to choose custom install and make many unchecking at least to be able to say "if they do what they say, they won't track me"..
- anonbanker 11y ago"If" is definitely a word I take to the bank.
- anonbanker 11y agoSwitched from Microsoft products in 1999, back when Palladium started. That was offensive enough. This is downright disgusting. I always ask co-workers how much liberty Windows users are willing to sacrifice to continue using their systems. Seems even I underestimated with Windows 10.
- macspoofing 11y ago>I always ask co-workers how much liberty Windows users are willing to sacrifice to continue using their systems. You do realize we live in an era of smartphones, facebook and cloud services. Those liberties have been given up already. Window is looking downright open these days.
- ageofwant 11y agoAccurate but irrelevant. The point is not to adapt to the "new normal", but to reject it and demand a higher standard.
- edgyswingset 11y ago> The point is not to adapt to the "new normal", but to reject it and demand a higher standard Most people don't care. Features are more important than FOSS when consumer software is concerned.
- blackbeard 11y agoWindows is not really open, has never has been and never will be. In fact it is getting worse. There's always a black box at the bottom of every stack trace, a secret in every corner and a cost to every solution be it time or money. Users, myself included, use it because we're stuck.
- socceroos 11y agoI'm in the fortunate position to not need Windows for anything other than the odd game. The GNU/Linux desktop has been fulfilling my needs for over a decade now. In today's internet-centric world, there is little need to have Windows around for anything other than very specific jobs - for the average user.
- jacobrb 11y agoThis is a stupid comparison, If thats the intention to compare it to how and what the internet is used for today. get off the hate train. you want to hate Microsoft, you had best hate Google, Apple and many other companies out there
- ageofwant 11y agoAnd we do. Hating on Microsoft in no way diminishes hate for all of the other violators. Hate is not governed by the laws of thermodynamics, there is enough warranted hate in the universe for them all, and then some.
- myhnaccount108 11y agoBut there's a bit more to it than that. The marketplace has apparently decided privacy is not worth paying for. Microsoft is conceding this point. Perhaps what the market values can be adjusted by creeping people out on a personal level by demonstrating just how much information they are giving away? Or perhaps the market is revealing that privacy in general has very little value? (Same issue with open computing vs. closed devices)
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y agoInterestingly, this seems to have been accidental. UUIDs were generated using MAC addresses to ensure some uniqueness, but I guess nobody ever realised the implications.
- mirimir 11y agoThere are many reasons to choose Windows. For example, Excel is by far the most powerful spreadsheet app. But using Windows where privacy matters is foolish. And trying to lock it down is pointless. If you need Windows for work, or gaming, or whatever, fine. But dedicate a machine to it. And use a different machine for private stuff, running VirtualBox in Debian. Or Qubes, if you're seriously paranoid ;)
- na85 11y agoFrankly I find the list of reasons to choose Windows is growing ever shorter. I find Windows 10 to be revolting, and the list of reasons to buy it seems to be: * Games * Industry-specific apps like AutoCAD 99% of Excel users would be satisfied by Google Docs or LibreOffice.
- mirimir 11y agoI do agree. And I'll be sticking with Windows 7. I am indeed mostly happy with LibreOffice Calc, or even Gnumeric. But I'm aware of no other spreadsheet app that calculates on multiple CPU cores. Or gracefully handles spreadsheets well north of 50MB. Windows overall may be revolting, but Excel is a beautiful thing.
- mrestko 11y agoAnother area hugely lacking in open source is image manipulation. People who think GIMP is a 1:1 replacement for Photoshop have never used Photoshop.
- curiousjorge 11y agois it possible to just add a 127.0.0.1 *.microsoft.com in windows 10?
- thehacker005263 11y agoIf that was possible, how are you supposed to get updates then ?
- hackuser 11y agoSetup your own WSUS server (or another update server).
- Kikawala 11y agoThere is a list of entries to put in your hosts files to block all of the known data telemetry hosts here: http://paste2.org/A1sv86VF http://paste2.org/A1sv86VF source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how...
- wcdolphin 11y agoToday we call this "IDFA".