Windows 10's Privacy Policy Is The New Normal

Megalith

Megalith

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Isn't it funny how companies want to know everything about you but couldn't care less about you? Microsoft gets a lot of data out of Windows 10, and it's really no surprise in a world where big data means big bucks. Sure, data collection is inescapable in the current climate of assistants and other personalized applications, but it's scary to think about where everything is going and how your data is being used.

It's probably fair to say that Windows 10 goes further in this kind of thing than previous operating systems. But it does so not as an outlier or some major break from past behaviors, but as a next step in a continuous process of making operating systems more connected, and to make data collection and analysis more extensive.
 
yep, which is why I will not be installing windows 10, this data mining is getting out of hand
 
Corporations go towards money, and big data is definitely big money waiting to be made.

Put a little carrot, and people will follow...

George Orwell figured all this out half a century ago...
 
Did you guys read the article? Cuz it says basically the opposite of what you're saying. Not to play Devil's Advocate, but the idea that MS is doing something intentionally malicious or profit-generating with your info is.. never brought up. The most concerning thing in the article is just the lack of ability to suppress the collection, not that it's actually happening.
 
ZDnet saying we are tin foil hat wearers for not trusting Microsoft to give us a free OS upgrade with no catches owes us an apology.
 
A lot of the data collection can be turned off in windows 10, other front page stories featured these.
 
sc0tty8 said:
A lot of the data collection can be turned off in windows 10, other front page stories featured these.
Click to expand...

Which might be true, but because of the terms of the EULA - and I don't give a shit about someone babbling on about the legality of such documents, please - are quite clear and Microsoft can (and most likely will) re-enable such data collection at any point in time with another update pushed at a future time of their choosing. People that choose not to read the EULA or the privacy statements that Microsoft has put out over the past 6 months while Windows 10 was in testing with public previews

It's basically sweeping a dirt floor since it'll just come back whenever Microsoft wants. Remember: it's their operating system not yours/ours, they can and will do whatever they want with it.

The only solution is simply not to use it, period. If people want to send Microsoft a clear message that cannot be ignored, stop using Windows 10 and don't even install it.

Otherwise, you just become another one of the sheep, like it or not.
 
Tiberian said:
It's basically sweeping a dirt floor since it'll just come back whenever Microsoft wants. Remember: it's their operating system not yours/ours, they can and will do whatever they want with it.

The only solution is simply not to use it, period. If people want to send Microsoft a clear message that cannot be ignored, stop using Windows 10 and don't even install it.

Otherwise, you just become another one of the sheep, like it or not.
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see what will happen in the coming months as the actual nature of that data collection becomes more known. There are a lot of jurisdictions around the world that have recently passed or are currently passing data mining restrictions. The next five years are going to be very interesting. Google has already been slapped here for collecting medical information when people looked up illnesses in their search engine.

Should be pop corn worthy in the very least.

It's a golden opportunity for alternate OSes, sadly open source by its very nature never has a cohesive strategy.
 
Tiberian said:
Which might be true, but because of the terms of the EULA - and I don't give a shit about someone babbling on about the legality of such documents, please - are quite clear and Microsoft can (and most likely will) re-enable such data collection at any point in time with another update pushed at a future time of their choosing. People that choose not to read the EULA or the privacy statements that Microsoft has put out over the past 6 months while Windows 10 was in testing with public previews

It's basically sweeping a dirt floor since it'll just come back whenever Microsoft wants. Remember: it's their operating system not yours/ours, they can and will do whatever they want with it.

The only solution is simply not to use it, period. If people want to send Microsoft a clear message that cannot be ignored, stop using Windows 10 and don't even install it.

Otherwise, you just become another one of the sheep, like it or not.
Click to expand...

If MS did reenable the privacy functions someone would quickly develop a watchdog app to keep an eye on tEULA'settings in the future.

I don't see MS doing that intentionally, even if the EULA allows it. They aren't that stupid to want data for a very minor amount of users - most will accept the default, IMHO. Remember, EULA's are usually written by lawyers and they tend to put in everything under the sun.

Most likely, you'll be denied access to features - I've already bumped into that one. I can't submit feedback without enabling privacy settings.
 
Ok now i've just clicked onto what the MS apologists kept harping on about when they said "but Windows 10 has many under the bonnet tweaks" etc That's why there are virtually no REAL FEATURES in 10, because they spent all the development time (the 3 or 4 months of Preview) making all the data mining code!

Shoulda known!
 
SuperSubZero said:
Did you guys read the article? Cuz it says basically the opposite of what you're saying. Not to play Devil's Advocate, but the idea that MS is doing something intentionally malicious or profit-generating with your info is.. never brought up. The most concerning thing in the article is just the lack of ability to suppress the collection, not that it's actually happening.
Click to expand...

mjplstdzyu.gif
 
This may get solved when some law firm replaces those Vista powered computers with new shiny Windows 10 computers, then finds itself in hot water with the state's bar association over ignoring attorney client privilege for letting Microsoft and others have access to all of the firm's keystrokes while working cases.
 
considering that MS makes the most money from business customers... how is MS going to convince them to switch to win 10? i mean, no sane admin will agree to this kind of data collection.
 
The whole OS is a trojan horse. Normally we classify software like this as malware, why is Microsoft getting a free pass?

It's time for users and the tech press to stop putting up with Microsoft's astroturfing. This product sucks. There's absolutely no reason for a desktop user to 'upgrade' from Windows 7 to this garbage.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
The whole OS is a trojan horse. Normally we classify software like this as malware, why is Microsoft getting a free pass?
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because "free" triggers some part of the brain that says "good". however, there is no such thing as a free lunch. and people have been conditioned that it's normal to dump all kinds of data anywhere.
 
Dead Parrot said:
This may get solved when some law firm replaces those Vista powered computers with new shiny Windows 10 computers, then finds itself in hot water with the state's bar association over ignoring attorney client privilege for letting Microsoft and others have access to all of the firm's keystrokes while working cases.
Click to expand...

Yeah cause the enterprise edition of 10 is the same as the other ones.

I actually work in a lawfirm and in IT client data isn't just sitting on a drive for people to access within the network.

That's not how this works!
 
It's funny we freely hand all that to google and Facebook but Microsoft. ...no no no. That info is used for cortana and so we can relevant info before we even know we need it but....omg Microsoft wants to makeb things easier the world is ending
 
d0x360 said:
It's funny we freely hand all that to google and Facebook but Microsoft. ...no no no. That info is used for cortana and so we can relevant info before we even know we need it but....omg Microsoft wants to makeb things easier the world is ending
Click to expand...

I find it hilarious to go to a site about an article on this topic of Windows 10 privacy and see the mountain of tracking ads on them. The consumer IT economy is firmly entrenched on ad/data sharing model now. Even if one personally blocks ads and disables all of the data collection or uses Linux or whatever, they still benefit buy having content and services they consume being funded by this model with nothing coming at least directly out of their pockets.

I've had a few people as me about the Windows 10, no one has specially mentioned the privacy concerns yet. But I did point out that by default Windows 10 works much a like smartphone or Facebook in delivering ads and collecting data. They didn't seem to be outraged by it. I don't think anyone particularly likes this stuff. But they'd probably like it less if stuff they use that currently has no direct upfront cost all of a sudden did. Just look at all the times people freak out when web content is behind a paywall.

In any case it looks like Windows 10 adoption is going very well. The latest number from GS Statcounter has yesterday's desktop market share for 10 at 4.84%. It could easily hit 10% by the end of the month at this rate at least according to this numbers.
 
it is the new normal till our govt gets off their dead asses and enact real digital privacy laws. you should own your data and have complete control on what is done with it.
 
heatlesssun said:
I've had a few people as me about the Windows 10, no one has specially mentioned the privacy concerns yet. But I did point out that by default Windows 10 works much a like smartphone or Facebook in delivering ads and collecting data. They didn't seem to be outraged by it. I don't think anyone particularly likes this stuff. But they'd probably like it less if stuff they use that currently has no direct upfront cost all of a sudden did. Just look at all the times people freak out when web content is behind a paywall.
Click to expand...

I remember when Microsoft call this getting Scroogled. Maybe the upgrade being free people should suspect this. But all the defenders said these features were info collection for development. So it shouldn't be surprised no one complained about this because clarity on what is happening is only coming out now. So by your logic this will not happen to people who paid for their copy through a new PC purchase or retail. Right.

In any case it looks like Windows 10 adoption is going very well. The latest number from GS Statcounter has yesterday's desktop market share for 10 at 4.84%. It could easily hit 10% by the end of the month at this rate at least according to this numbers.
Click to expand...
Stuffing it down the update channel will get people to do it and I guarantee the majority have no clue it wasn't just an update how radically their relationship with Microsoft changed.
 
Tiberian said:
Which might be true, but because of the terms of the EULA - and I don't give a shit about someone babbling on about the legality of such documents, please - are quite clear and Microsoft can (and most likely will) re-enable such data collection at any point in time with another update pushed at a future time of their choosing. People that choose not to read the EULA or the privacy statements that Microsoft has put out over the past 6 months while Windows 10 was in testing with public previews

It's basically sweeping a dirt floor since it'll just come back whenever Microsoft wants. Remember: it's their operating system not yours/ours, they can and will do whatever they want with it.

The only solution is simply not to use it, period. If people want to send Microsoft a clear message that cannot be ignored, stop using Windows 10 and don't even install it.

Otherwise, you just become another one of the sheep, like it or not.
Click to expand...

So set your settings via GPO and add machine to an OU with that GPO, each time that machine/user logs in, the domain GPO can be re-applied with settings to turn that crap OFF.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
The whole OS is a trojan horse. Normally we classify software like this as malware, why is Microsoft getting a free pass?

It's time for users and the tech press to stop putting up with Microsoft's astroturfing. This product sucks. There's absolutely no reason for a desktop user to 'upgrade' from Windows 7 to this garbage.
Click to expand...

My fav Linux ISO distibutor has a "Privacy Enhanced" W10 download...that kills all the known spy shit, keeping it from even being installed.
 
jpm100 said:
I remember when Microsoft call this getting Scroogled. Maybe the upgrade being free people should suspect this. But all the defenders said these features were info collection for development. So it shouldn't be surprised no one complained about this because clarity on what is happening is only coming out now. So by your logic this will not happen to people who paid for their copy through a new PC purchase or retail. Right.
Click to expand...

Most of this stuff was already in 8.1 though. And I think the only thing that can't be completely disabled in the UI as far as privacy goes for Home users is the diagnostic data which on the Basic setting doesn't use any personal data but does report on programs installed.

jpm100 said:
Stuffing it down the update channel will get people to do it and I guarantee the majority have no clue it wasn't just an update how radically their relationship with Microsoft changed.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree but I don't think most people actually care as much as some here would imply because otherwise there wouldn't be billions of smartphones out there or social networks like Facebook with a billion+ users doing the same things. Right or wrong the free market economy has developed and consumers have accepted these practices. There was no government behind it or crony capitalism involved. This is a quintessential example of free and unfettered markets at work building an economy of scale.

That said free markets aren't infallible.
 
Anyone with a Facebook/Gmail/Twitter/Amazon/Yahoo/iTunes etc. etc. account shouldn't really be moaning about this. Everyone you have connections to, everyone you interact with is tracking and data mining you.

This is BUSINESS. If you don't like it then unplug your broadband and wi-fi and just go live in a cave.

You have that choice.

Otherwise all you can do is make the best of it.
 
Lol..... You guys probably have more than 1 forum account, have linkedin/facebook/twitter/youtube/ and you have a smart phone with a GPS on it.... Just lol

How does any of this physically or mentally harm you? Do you think Microsoft cares about you individually? Maybe as a future customer but they couldn't care less about your search history or whatnot.
 
daglesj said:
Anyone with a Facebook/Gmail/Twitter/Amazon/Yahoo/iTunes etc. etc. account shouldn't really be moaning about this....
Click to expand...

Don't forget anyone with an Android or Apple phone, which track more than what you search for and use, but also physical location and habits etc etc.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Don't forget anyone with an Android or Apple phone, which track more than what you search for and use, but also physical location and habits etc etc.
Click to expand...

you can opt out of a lot of the data/location features my h like with windows 10
 
d0x360 said:
It's funny we freely hand all that to google and Facebook but Microsoft. ...no no no. That info is used for cortana and so we can relevant info before we even know we need it but....omg Microsoft wants to makeb things easier the world is ending
Click to expand...

Facebook and Google datamining ends when I close the window on Google and Facebook. In Windows 10 it's engrained in the DNA of the OS - a paid OS, one my friend just paid $200 for on a gaming rig since he had no previous licenses to upgrade - and there is no escaping it, even if you toggle off the few "privacy" settings they actually expose.

Surely you can understand the difference, this really isn't a hard think concept.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Don't forget anyone with an Android or Apple phone, which track more than what you search for and use, but also physical location and habits etc etc.
Click to expand...

for the hundredth time, my PC is not a tablet. My PC is not a phone. Two wrongs don't make a right. Windows used to be a safe haven from the bullshit. Now only Windows 7 remains so.
 
Well, this thread has gone exactly like every other Microsoft thread on these forums in existence, no surprise there. :p:rolleyes: If you do not want anyone to know anything about you, unplug already and go outside. Oh, and make sure not to talk to anyone or show paranoia well you are at it. Oh well, I am a Christian so this does not surprise me.
 
DPI said:
for the hundredth time, my PC is not a tablet. My PC is not a phone. Two wrongs don't make a right. Windows used to be a safe haven from the bullshit. Now only Windows 7 remains so.
Click to expand...

Windows 7 is not a safe haven, good luck with that train of thought. :D

DPI said:
Facebook and Google datamining ends when I close the window on Google and Facebook. In Windows 10 it's engrained in the DNA of the OS - a paid OS, one my friend just paid $200 for on a gaming rig since he had no previous licenses to upgrade - and there is no escaping it, even if you toggle off the few "privacy" settings they actually expose.

Surely you can understand the difference, this really isn't a hard think concept.
Click to expand...

You go right on believing that, sure thing. :rolleyes: I already understand that you hate Microsoft and therefore, your "opinion" is 100% biased and probably always will be. Enjoy.
 
Hi All

If you are online, I'd say in some way be it email client Google or Facebook, Twitter etc. your info is being mined.
 
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