Windows 10 Child Spying Feature Is Upsetting People

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It seems to me that the biggest problem with this feature is that it is turned on by default.

Windows 10 sends a weekly “activity update” on childrens’ internet browsing and computer history to parents, by default and without telling anyone. The feature could be dangerous as well as embarrassing, users have pointed out, allowing parents to watch everything their children do on the computer.
 
So parents were complaining that there were no good tools available to track their childrens' online habits, so Microsoft provides one, and now parents are complaining about it? Granted, I think there should definitely show more transparency about the feature.
 
The point is it is enable by default and people didn't even know it existed and was doing it without permission.

Tools are fine, but don't force them enable. Put it in there, let the user decide if they want to enable such things.
 
This is just to prepare kids for when they grow up and all of the software they use continually spies on them.
 
So parents were complaining that there were no good tools available to track their childrens' online habits, so Microsoft provides one, and now parents are complaining about it?

Did you even read the summary?
 
I don't have a problem with this feature. It saved me from having to buy additional nanny software.
 
Microsoft is kind of in a no win situation ... they are in a competitive market where they must add new features to stay competitive and up to date ... they service the largest OS user base on the planet of varying degrees of expertise (so auto configuration options serve people who wouldn't know what to turn on or off on their own) ... the internet is a dangerous place for children well into their teens and part of the parental responsibility is to help monitor your children's activities

Microsoft might almost have been better served by buying an hour of primetime TV during the summer season and having a 1 hour program on Windows 10 features before launch ... they could also have prepared a collection of YouTube videos walking users through some of these new features (and how to disable them if they didn't want them) ... perhaps that could have alleviated some of the surprise ... that said, I think the feature is a good one and they just should have been more forthcoming about its presence and how to disable it
 
I can understand some of this but people clearly were adding child accounts expecting some level of child protection and not fully understanding what that was which does put some responsibility on parents.
 
I have no problem with it being enabled by default. If I create a child account I would expect some restrictions and monitoring by default. It's better to enable it by default for all the parents that don't know what their children are doing online.

Anyone who argues otherwise hasn't ever found their 15 year old trading provocative images of themselves with their significant other online and hiding it because they knows its wrong. No different than what kids did with instant develop pictures back in the day, just much more damaging and perminant than the kids realize.
 
The comments about outing lgbt kids made me lmao.

OMG, a family having to communicate and deal with problems! It's the end of the world!

Kids doing illegal things online or accessing pornography while underage and the parents having to discipline them? What a new concept! Holding your kids accountable for their actions! What has the world come to?!?!?!? Lmao
 
The creepy thing is that if that data's being collected and stored someplace not local to the computer, meaning Microsoft has it, then that could be legally a problem. Also it means that the ability exists to collect data on pretty much any Win10 computer for any person regardless of age and that it's possibly happening whether the user at the keyboard likes it or not. I need to change my user name to CreepyUncleMicrosoft or something...AND I'm happy to be mostly on Linux where at least the OS isn't a creeper even if the entire Internet is now.
 
The comments about outing lgbt kids made me lmao.

OMG, a family having to communicate and deal with problems! It's the end of the world!

Kids doing illegal things online or accessing pornography while underage and the parents having to discipline them? What a new concept! Holding your kids accountable for their actions! What has the world come to?!?!?!? Lmao

Well some parents are bigots and abusive jerkfaces to their children over their sexual preferences because they don't meet parental expectations. It acutally might turn into a problem where Windows 10 enables child abuse. Most people are idiots even as adults and I wouldn't put it past them for the average stupid parent to physically or emotionally abuse their own child over stuff like that. Men especially would be likely to resort to using that as an excuse to justify domestic violence against their offspring.
 
Well some parents are bigots and abusive jerkfaces to their children over their sexual preferences because they don't meet parental expectations. It acutally might turn into a problem where Windows 10 enables child abuse. Most people are idiots even as adults and I wouldn't put it past them for the average stupid parent to physically or emotionally abuse their own child over stuff like that. Men especially would be likely to resort to using that as an excuse to justify domestic violence against their offspring.

In fairness, most parents are not that bad and if a child were really part of a household where they were in danger from their parents then they probably should be surfing to sites that would out them from their home computers (where even without Microsoft's monitoring their parents might have access to their web history or browsing cache)
 
The point is it is enable by default and people didn't even know it existed and was doing it without permission.

Tools are fine, but don't force them enable. Put it in there, let the user decide if they want to enable such things.

It tells you plain as day when you are creating the account "Family Safety monitoring has been turned on for this account. You can always change what your child sees in the Windows Store and manage other settings on the Family Safety website."

And it's been there since Windows 8.


People are just looking for something to complain about with 10.
 
Jesus. Let's clutch some pearls!

This is also known as the "family safety" feature and has been there for YEARS. It's enabled on my kids PCs.

Fuck. Government spies on your email. "OMG Mr. gubmint man! Save me from the terrorists!"

Microsoft provides a tool for parents to manage their kids PCs: "FREAK THE FUCK OUT BIG BROTHER 666 MARK OF THE BEAST!1!!!1!!!!!! INFOQWARS!"

:rolleyes:

Apple and Google collect ass-tons of personal data for Siri and GoogleNow : "no big deal, take my money" says the consumer.

Microsoft does the exact same fucking thing: "OMG! They are the FEMA camp and selling my kidneys to China!"
 
Some are missing the point. When people been saying who knows what kind of info MS is collecting. And now we have this which no one even knew about. Who knows what else is in the OS. I don't mind features like this, but not telling anyone and activated by default. Should be an option.
 
In fairness, most parents are not that bad...

*snip*

All the parents I see out in public places everyday letting their children scream and run amok would disagree with you. Or maybe I just live in a crap town?
 
Well some parents are bigots and abusive jerkfaces to their children over their sexual preferences because they don't meet parental expectations. It acutally might turn into a problem where Windows 10 enables child abuse. Most people are idiots even as adults and I wouldn't put it past them for the average stupid parent to physically or emotionally abuse their own child over stuff like that. Men especially would be likely to resort to using that as an excuse to justify domestic violence against their offspring.

Attitudes like this is why more kids are coddled pansies today.

Windows 10 doesn't enable child abuse, parents abusing their child enables child abuse. I suppose guns kill people and the person behind the trigger has nothing to do with it too? Sue my car because it hit your car, not me!

If you are a gay kid and you don't want your parents to find out, do exactly what every kid in the past has done. Don't tell anyone about it. If you blab all over the internet about yourself being homosexual, count on your parents (and everyone else) finding out about it. Nothing new. Everything you put online can and will be recorded forever and can't be deleted.

As far as men abusing anyone, kids, spouse or anyone, they don't need any more excuses. If a spouse (male or female, it happens both ways) is abusive, they will be no matter what. Windows 10 won't be their trigger.

BTW this "feature" has been something going on since windows visa if you installed parental controls. It's not new.
 
Attitudes like this is why more kids are coddled pansies today.

Windows 10 doesn't enable child abuse, parents abusing their child enables child abuse. I suppose guns kill people and the person behind the trigger has nothing to do with it too? Sue my car because it hit your car, not me!

If you are a gay kid and you don't want your parents to find out, do exactly what every kid in the past has done. Don't tell anyone about it. If you blab all over the internet about yourself being homosexual, count on your parents (and everyone else) finding out about it. Nothing new. Everything you put online can and will be recorded forever and can't be deleted.

As far as men abusing anyone, kids, spouse or anyone, they don't need any more excuses. If a spouse (male or female, it happens both ways) is abusive, they will be no matter what. Windows 10 won't be their trigger.

BTW this "feature" has been something going on since windows visa if you installed parental controls. It's not new.

Although I don't think any form of sex is a good thing and it all should be banned or at least heavily regulated, I find your opinion very, very backwards. People who identify with a group want to interact with others for support and if they're forced to be unfairly isolated because they have a harmless yet not mainstream belief or desire (it could be anything really and not have to do with whatever their gender preference is) then they should be able to interact without fear of consequences from backwards intolerant parents who will most certainly take full advantage of this.

As for your argument about it being the person not the tool, I agree with you mostly. However, the tool IS an enabler of those problems. (IE - It's impossible to kill someone with a gun if no one has a gun. You have to find some other less effective way to appease your disgusting hormone-fueled urge to murder other people.) Most people are, in my opinion, far too irresponsible to own something that can hurt someone else like a gun and I think most older people (plus 30 crowd) is too irresponsible to take care of children so the last thing they deserve is the tools to play pretend king of the house with their kids. And yes, men who would otherwise not do something will feel empowered and all big and tough when they're given a tool that they'll invariably use for abuse and stupidity so the last thing we need to do is give them more empowerment and capabilities to act like little Napolenic wanna-be rulers.

Beyond that, this OS capability exists. What else is it being used for that isn't yet known?
 
Anyone who thinks it is OK to creepily spy on their kid(s) is a fucking douchebag.
 
This is just to prepare kids for when they grow up and all of the software they use continually spies on them.
+1
10/10

The day when software (and big brother, your computing devices OS not including Linus of course, fakebook etc..) continually spies on them. IS TODAY!:(
Kids grow up so fast.
 
I agree that this is annoying. I setup a Windows 10 machine for my kid niece and set her up as a child/standard user (to reduce junkware installations) and it started sending me reports. Eff that, I don't want to know what they're doing with that computer. I managed to find the option and turn it off.

I'll probably end up a bad parent by modern standards, but my parents weren't helicoptering over me when I was young and I turned out alright... mostly... to some extent.
 
Anyone who thinks it is OK to creepily spy on their kid(s) is a fucking douchebag.

So why have a child account option in the first place? Parents create child accounts for the explicit reason of wanting to protect their children but then want to wash their hands of it when they think the protection goes too far without even knowing that protection was there in the first place.

People want to press one button and have it all done for them without thought. Indeed all of this spying that some complain about is because people want the functions of complex computing and data mining and cost reductions and want it all done with a press of single button and then want to complain when dozens of decisions are made because of the pressing of that single button.
 
It seems to me that the biggest problem with this feature is that it is turned on by default.

Windows 10 sends a weekly “activity update” on childrens’ internet browsing and computer history to parents, by default and without telling anyone. The feature could be dangerous as well as embarrassing, users have pointed out, allowing parents to watch everything their children do on the computer.


Obviously M$ wants to know the kids surfing info and the parents needs are just the excuse. Its alllll for the kiddies
 
Although I don't think any form of sex is a good thing and it all should be banned or at least heavily regulated, I find your opinion very, very backwards. People who identify with a group want to interact with others for support and if they're forced to be unfairly isolated because they have a harmless yet not mainstream belief or desire (it could be anything really and not have to do with whatever their gender preference is) then they should be able to interact without fear of consequences from backwards intolerant parents who will most certainly take full advantage of this.

As for your argument about it being the person not the tool, I agree with you mostly. However, the tool IS an enabler of those problems. (IE - It's impossible to kill someone with a gun if no one has a gun. You have to find some other less effective way to appease your disgusting hormone-fueled urge to murder other people.) Most people are, in my opinion, far too irresponsible to own something that can hurt someone else like a gun and I think most older people (plus 30 crowd) is too irresponsible to take care of children so the last thing they deserve is the tools to play pretend king of the house with their kids. And yes, men who would otherwise not do something will feel empowered and all big and tough when they're given a tool that they'll invariably use for abuse and stupidity so the last thing we need to do is give them more empowerment and capabilities to act like little Napolenic wanna-be rulers.

The tool has to exist to kill someone? Humans have been killing things to survive since before we used tools.

The fastest, most efficient and discrete way to kill someone involves nothing more than your hands. Does that mean no one should have hands? The old argument of "you can do the damage without the tool" is completely backwards. It's not a "chicken or egg" situation. A pencil exists, I percieve a way to injure someone with a pencil and execute it. Under your opinion no one can have pencils anymore. It doesn't make sense does it?

Your comment on "enabling and empowering men" is also quite interesting. It seems you have some preconception (or prior experience) with this situation that leads you to this opinion. Unfortunately for you, that seems to be clouding your interpretation of facts. Spousal abuse happens towards both sexes, and verbal/physical abuse knows no sex. Woman are just as likely to participate in abusive behavior as men, it just happens in different forms. My point was that the monitoring isn't going to be the only trigger. Stop blaming the trigger and solve the problem, blame the person.

All sex should be banned or regulated? Call you mom, tell her that then demand she kills you because you are a product of sex. Even a test tube baby is a product of sex.

I suppose you also think that playgrounds shouldn't have monkey bars because 15% of kids hurt themselves on them. How about having no recognition of academic status in school graduation, college included, because it makes the 2.0 students "feel" stupid. Sounds like a great idea huh?

Get over yourself. Being mad, sad, angry, oppressed, monitored, regulated, bullied, disrespected, abused and discarded is part of life. It's what you do to overcome the obsticals of life that sets us apart from each other. Ask Darwin, survival of the fittest.
 
The tool has to exist to kill someone? Humans have been killing things to survive since before we used tools.

The fastest, most efficient and discrete way to kill someone involves nothing more than your hands. Does that mean no one should have hands? The old argument of "you can do the damage without the tool" is completely backwards. It's not a "chicken or egg" situation. A pencil exists, I percieve a way to injure someone with a pencil and execute it. Under your opinion no one can have pencils anymore. It doesn't make sense does it?

Your comment on "enabling and empowering men" is also quite interesting. It seems you have some preconception (or prior experience) with this situation that leads you to this opinion. Unfortunately for you, that seems to be clouding your interpretation of facts. Spousal abuse happens towards both sexes, and verbal/physical abuse knows no sex. Woman are just as likely to participate in abusive behavior as men, it just happens in different forms. My point was that the monitoring isn't going to be the only trigger. Stop blaming the trigger and solve the problem, blame the person.

All sex should be banned or regulated? Call you mom, tell her that then demand she kills you because you are a product of sex. Even a test tube baby is a product of sex.

I suppose you also think that playgrounds shouldn't have monkey bars because 15% of kids hurt themselves on them. How about having no recognition of academic status in school graduation, college included, because it makes the 2.0 students "feel" stupid. Sounds like a great idea huh?

Get over yourself. Being mad, sad, angry, oppressed, monitored, regulated, bullied, disrespected, abused and discarded is part of life. It's what you do to overcome the obsticals of life that sets us apart from each other. Ask Darwin, survival of the fittest.

You don't understand human psychology and the slippery slope argument you're trying to make with pencils and hands makes it like a total no-duh that you're looking for a way to retaliate that saves face, but aren't sure where to go with doing it.
 
This is one of the best feature for parents like myself. I put their accounts under my as child, so I can monitor their activities. Internet is full of pedophiles. I rather do this to protect them instead feeling sorry later. When they are older and move out of my house, then they can have their privacy back.
 
Anyone who thinks it is OK to creepily spy on their kid(s) is a fucking douchebag.

As a parent it is your job to know what your kid is doing. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either not a parent or is a poor excuse for one.
 
Are we taking bets about how long until there is a lawsuit about all these privacy issues with win 10? And since win10 was free what is that saying about if it's free your the product? Just saying....
 
So you can filter our shit but that doesn't mean you should be a creep and spy on them.

So press a button and then no one is ever supposed to look anything ever again? Nonsense. This whole issue is bullshit. "I don't want to spy on my kids, that's why I setup a child account!" "I set up a child account, why didn't the computer tell me my child was on that site?!"
 
Anyone who thinks it is OK to creepily spy on their kid(s) is a fucking douchebag.

Knowing what your child is doing and keeping them out of trouble is one of the primary responsibilities of a parent. In the old days your parents would get a report from the neighbors, now they get a report from Windows. Totally Normal.
 
Are we taking bets about how long until there is a lawsuit about all these privacy issues with win 10? And since win10 was free what is that saying about if it's free your the product? Just saying....

Agreed, be a good parent people! Kids can have their freedom when they grow up.
 
Knowing what your child is doing and keeping them out of trouble is one of the primary responsibilities of a parent. In the old days your parents would get a report from the neighbors, now they get a report from Windows. Totally Normal.

This

/Thread
 
The good ole "I can't seem to figure out how to be a good parent and raise my child in a way that allows him/her to learn how to make good decisions, so I will just monitor and control every aspect of them 24/7" argument...which always leads to the inevitable event later in time..."I don't understand how X happened...why would he/she even make that kind of decision when it's so THAT bad and out-of-character?" or the "He/she never acted that way before moving out! My child's life is ruined now! How could this happen?"

Meanwhile, responsible and proactive parents start teaching their children from birth to think about choices and consequences before acting, while also routinely talking to them openly and honestly about all the harsh realities of life, including the most dangerous and negative ones.

But that's a lot harder, and requires more caring, than just saying "because I say so" and desperately attempting to micromanage them...at least until the point it begins failing or it is no longer legal by age...then it's all the fault of someone else of course..."I raised him as best I could, it must have been negative outside influence."
 
Knowing what your child is doing and keeping them out of trouble is one of the primary responsibilities of a parent. In the old days your parents would get a report from the neighbors, now they get a report from Windows. Totally Normal.

Should a parent record every conversation their child has at school? You can pretty much guarantee that whatever they're picking up from their peers at school is worse than what they do online.

I always thought it was interesting that parents worry about porn and pedos and violent games, but generally don't think twice about locking their kids up all day in a facility full of insane/deviant/violent children with minimal adult supervision.
 
If my kids surf someplace they shouldn't, or that I couldn't anticipate, then I want to know. The whole point is that the barriers will be setup, the rules in place, but this will help me know how it's going without me sitting on top of them 24x7.

My kids have already done some things that I didn't see coming, so things like this are necessary to keep tabs. There are plenty of dangers on the Internet that kids aren't aware of. If you want to be a shitty parent, keep the blinders on and turn them loose.
 
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