Microsoft Claims 71% Of Windows 10 Users Are Happy With Telemetry

Kaos_Drem said:
I have intentionally broken my windows update to not go past TH2 (1511) as that was the last win10 version that allowed you to completely disable cortana and telemetry.
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I just rename the Cortana folder and it drops completely out of the active process list. Takes a little fiddling as you have to switch off the process and rename the folder before it reloads.

Still doable.
 
Mohonri said:
FWIW, the "happy" commentary comes from the Register article, not from the blog.
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Yep, exactly my point, nothing in the blog says anything of the sort nor can be interpreted as such, thanks. :D :)
 
This is simply showing the ratios of Average Joe Users vs. the more informed users for Windows 10.

I run into this all the time. The Average Joe User will blindly follow the setup procedures on the OS. So, Microsoft gets their Email (password, too, at least eventually) and gets to spy on everything, because they click through express settings, or blindly follow what Cortana TELLS them to do in the newest way the OS is activated. (Yes, Cortana sets up your OS on new installs on new PCs... unbelievably annoying, after setting up the 3rd or 4th PC in a row...)

They then come in to my shop and complain about the Targeted Advertisements, and how annoying it is.

When they are advised, well, that is what you get when you blindly click through installing the OS, they get angry, appalled, or sickened. They say things like,"If I had known this I would not have installed the OS," or " What can I do to keep this from happening?," or "How the [expletive] is this legal?"

They love it when they are told their iphone and android do the same. (Sarcasm)

I advise them to complain to their respective Legislators, as those are the ones who have power to fix this (yeah, probably won't do any good, unless you have enough funding to be heard. So, I advise them to look for places which do.) And suggest ways to mitigate, or limit, the Data Harvesting. I also advise them about their HIPAA violation issue, if they are in fields where they must keep other peoples' personal information confidential.
 
if windows doesn't want to have their hands full with lawsuits, then they should not spy on people without their consent. By agreeing to the software license, it is to install and use the software, not to spy on you, people privacy should be kept private.
 
zomby said:
if windows doesn't want to have their hands full with lawsuits, then they should not spy on people without their consent. By agreeing to the software license, it is to install and use the software, not to spy on you, people privacy should be kept private.
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As long as 71% Of Windows 10 Users are happy w/telemetry and spying there is not much anyone can do about it.
 
Ordeith said:
There are at least that many people using Google and Android, so...
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... so.. what google and android have to do with Windows 10 is ... nothing. So no point being intellectually lazy and trying to conflate what others do is somehow a justification to not have consumers express legitimate concerns for a completely separate monopoly product by another company.

As Stefan would say.... not an argument.
 
daglesj said:
Every machine I roll out for customers has all the available options switched off and a Local account.

Just doing my little bit.
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I do the same, but telemetry can only be 'limited' it cannot be switched entirely off so that the OS can get on with the job of just being an OS and not a spyware platform.
 
ManofGod said:
Yep, exactly my point, nothing in the blog says anything of the sort nor can be interpreted as such, thanks. :D :)
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That's why I took the time earlier in the thread to quote and contradict the original MS blog post ("71 percent of customers are selecting Full diagnostics data"), not El Reg's commentary :) ("Microsoft claims seven out of ten Windows 10 users are happy with Redmond gulping loads of telemetry from their computers"). The first is a flat-out lie. The second is a playful exaggeration of the lie, done so in order to emphasize how ridiculous the lie is.

I mean, seriously, if you go and read the MS blog post, it's pretty much a press release mixed with propaganda. It's not a blog post, it's an advertisement.
 
I'll go toe to toe. Are you ready? Do you know where your towel is?

GDI Lord said:
There is at least one entire continent that does things differently to you. Here in Africa we do things almost the opposite. Mobile phone penetration is incredibly high compared to computers. In South Africa alone, the majority of the tax returns are done on a cellphone - including mine.

I'm tempted to report your post as an outright lie... ;-)


I'm in my early thirties and I'm in a similar position. A lot of what I play can be run in DOSBox or SCUMMVM or is available on GOG.com, with the big exception of Battlefield 1.

Maybe the situation has now changed since I last tried Linux, but I've found that with Windows, everything "just works." There's no need to faff around with under the hood settings, no recompilation nonsense that takes an eternity to finish, one installs Windows and it just works.
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M76 said:
It doesn't until it does. I'd rather not take that chance. What if they decide that viewing anti sjw videos on youtube is a thought crime and they come after me based on the collected data? We're closer to 1980 than we ever been, and we're only getting closer. All out spying on computer users, fascistic identity politics, and silencing of dissenting voices. That's where we are at socially.
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That sounds like paranoid more than anything unless you are involved in an actual crime like child porn or a terrorist plot. I'd be more concerned about your neighbors plotting the next white supremacy rally that may create mayhem around your neighborhood than a police knocking on your door for watching a random youtube video. Even if Microsoft is not collecting your data, it doesn't prevent Youtube or even your IP from collecting your data.
 
boomboy2k1 said:
Even if Microsoft is not collecting your data, it doesn't prevent Youtube or even your IP from collecting your data.
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I guess at the end of the day it comes down to this. If youtube or facebook or google is collecting my data... I am well aware of the doing. I have chosen to use their products. I could likewise simply choose to not use them. When you start talking about MS collecting information at the OS level... it is no longer a choice if you wish to use windows. The only choice is to use a completely different platform. (or fuck around with 1001 hacks to disable what should have always been optional, which may or may not work (or continue to work))

Think of it this way.... if I buy a Ford, I am ok with Ford knowing I bought a Ford. (they may even ask me to do an optional survey) However if the Gov to make a little extra money decided to build databases to sell and started asking non optional questions when I registered my car building detailed databases of what I own and asking questions such as; where did you buy this car, what did you pay for it, how many people are in your house, what is your annual income. I would imagine most people would be a little bit more then annoyed.
 
boomboy2k1 said:
That sounds like paranoid more than anything unless you are involved in an actual crime like child porn or a terrorist plot. I'd be more concerned about your neighbors plotting the next white supremacy rally that may create mayhem around your neighborhood than a police knocking on your door for watching a random youtube video. Even if Microsoft is not collecting your data, it doesn't prevent Youtube or even your IP from collecting your data.
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Its not paranoia when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion.
You are trying hard to dismiss genuine concerns with distraction. It looks like you have a vested interest.
 
lol

So just a little under 3/4, 71% of the people intelligent enough to use a web browser are blind sheep. That sounds about right in my personal experience.
 
Gee it's too bad you can't just turn all that off during install. Oh wait..... ;)
 
Burticus said:
Gee it's too bad you can't just turn all that off during install. Oh wait..... ;)
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Actually you cannot turn all that off during install. You cannot turn all that off after install. You cannot turn all that off without resorting to garage hacks and hoping for the best, and that MS doesn't break the telemetry blocks in the next forced update (they usually do).

There's really no excuse for not giving users the option to control data leaving their PC's. But I guess MS doesn't mind 10's marketshare only growing 4-5% in 17 months.
 
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DPI said:
Actually you cannot turn all that off during install. You cannot turn all that off after install. You cannot turn all that off without resorting to garage hacks and hoping for the best, and that MS doesn't break the telemetry blocks in the next forced update (they usually do).

There's really no excuse for not giving users the option to control data leaving their PC's. But I guess MS doesn't mind 10's marketshare growth being essentially stalled at 4-5% for the past 17 months.
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shhh, facts are hard to digest for 71% of the population.
 
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HoffY said:
... so.. what google and android have to do with Windows 10 is ... nothing. So no point being intellectually lazy and trying to conflate what others do is somehow a justification to not have consumers express legitimate concerns for a completely separate monopoly product by another company.

As Stefan would say.... not an argument.
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It has to do with telemetry. If people are ok having their privacy violated by the worst data harvester of all with Google, then those people are ok with telemetry. No point in being intellectually lazy and trying to conflate product behavior as some justification for the "legitimate concerns" of a few hypocritical users with ulterior motives.
 
I agree with what some other people are saying, I think 71% of people just don't care or don't understand what Telemetry is. I also think 20% of the people that aren't happy with it, also probably have no idea what it really is or how it really works.

Armenius said:
This is why we won't be rolling W10 out any time soon. In its current state, it's impossible for Windows 10 to be HIPAA compliant.

Just because they stop patching it doesn't mean you have to stop using it. Look at the market that Windows XP still has.
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Who is working on your systems that you cannot make them HIPAA compliant? That seems to be more an issue with your engineering staff honestly.
 
NoOther said:
Who is working on your systems that you cannot make them HIPAA compliant? That seems to be more an issue with your engineering staff honestly.
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No, the issue is Windows 10 cannot be made HIPAA compliant. 10 Enterprise can get close but still leaks data. Many medical offices are too small to afford enterprise licensing agreements, so their existing installations of Windows 7 Pro will remain 7 Pro for the next decade, or until Microsoft pulls their head out and provides a telemetry off switch.
 
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DPI said:
No, the issue is Windows 10 cannot be made HIPAA compliant. 10 Enterprise can get close but still leaks data. And many medical offices with are too small to afford enterprise licensing agreements, so their existing installations of Windows 7 Pro will remain 7 Pro for the next decade, or until Microsoft pulls their head out and provides a telemetry off switch.
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No, it is still an engineering issue. As someone that has done assessments on Windows 10 systems, they can be made compliant. Machines can leak data all day, that doesn't mean that data has to go anywhere. It is also possible to remove all data leaks from Windows 10. Perhaps the medical offices do not have the money to afford an engineer that understands how to make them compliant, but that isn't the same thing as saying it is impossible.
 
NoOther said:
No, it is still an engineering issue. As someone that has done assessments on Windows 10 systems, they can be made compliant. Machines can leak data all day, that doesn't mean that data has to go anywhere. It is also possible to remove all data leaks from Windows 10. Perhaps the medical offices do not have the money to afford an engineer that understands how to make them compliant, but that isn't the same thing as saying it is impossible.
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There's a lot more to HIPPA than typically gets discussed in these kinds of conversations. Telemetry does not automatically mean that a system isn't HIPPA compliant. It's difficult to wade through the truth and FUD but a Windows 10 machine that's set for basic telemetry shouldn't be sharing any kind of personal information related to files. Sending an IP address or software and hardware configuration data doesn't make a system HIPPA non-complaint. Furthermore, if you're not keeping up with security updates, enforcing system access protocols, etc. you're out of compliance.
 
NoOther said:
No, it is still an engineering issue. As someone that has done assessments on Windows 10 systems, they can be made compliant. Machines can leak data all day, that doesn't mean that data has to go anywhere. It is also possible to remove all data leaks from Windows 10. Perhaps the medical offices do not have the money to afford an engineer that understands how to make them compliant, but that isn't the same thing as saying it is impossible.
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Unfortunately, third party hacks, reg/GPedits, firewall port blocking and whatever else you think you can engineer as a best guess against beating Microsoft's ever-evolving cat and mouse changes to telemetry, doesn't change what I said nor is it an excuse for the lack of an official telemetry off-switch.
 
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heatlesssun said:
There's a lot more to HIPPA than typically gets discussed in these kinds of conversations. Telemetry does not automatically mean that a system isn't HIPPA compliant. It's difficult to wade through the truth and FUD but a Windows 10 machine that's set for basic telemetry shouldn't be sharing any kind of personal information related to files. Sending an IP address or software and hardware configuration data doesn't make a system HIPPA non-complaint. Furthermore, if you're not keeping up with security updates, enforcing system access protocols, etc. you're out of compliance.
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The only FUD is from the chronics that patrol the board with doublespeak and excuses for MS not providing a telemetry opt out, laboring under the belief they're protecting their vested interest in MSFT.

Let's stick to facts rather than what you "think" Basic level telemetry "shouldn't be" sharing. The fact is that Basic telemetry leaks over 2000 data points. That's 2000+ more data points than Windows 7 Pro with the telemetry backport blocked is leaking. Combine that with there being (arguably) no compelling new features in 10 that businesses can really leverage and it's a no brainer that businesses requiring HIPAA compliance are going to avoid 10.

Microsoft has stayed silent on the HIPAA compliance issue, which is their tactic whenever they want to avoid confirming a negative.
 
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DPI said:
Unfortunately, third party hacks, reg/GPedits, firewall port blocking and whatever else you think you can "engineer" as a best guess against beating Microsoft's ever-evolving cat and mouse changes to telemetry, doesn't change what I said nor is it an excuse for the lack of an official telemetry off-switch.
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It absolutely changes what you said. You said that Windows 10 "cannot be made HIPAA compliant". That is simply not true. As for an official telemetry off-switch, I think most would be in favor of that. As for engineering "best guess", there are no guesses about it.
 
Ordeith said:
If people are ok having their privacy violated by the worst data harvester of all with Google,
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Citation needed.

Nice assumption. The argument people make is...

Someone else collects data there for it is ok that MS collect data without consent.

That is the only argument they have with their "but muh google" retort because they can't actually comprehend that people dont want their privacy lost no matter who does it and that this discussion is talking about MS's version of forcing users data to be harvested with no consent nor means to opt out in a legit and honest fashion.


Ordeith said:
No point in being intellectually lazy and trying to conflate product behavior as some justification for the "legitimate concerns" of a few hypocritical users with ulterior motives.
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Nice waffle speak. Do you watn to create any more fantasy meanings into what i said? Go on.. make up something else like that i'm a nazi or a kkk member. Thats the level of brain-dead that statement of yours conveys. i should not even need to explain the point.. it is clear and many have no issues comprehending the point.
 
NoOther said:
It absolutely changes what you said. You said that Windows 10 "cannot be made HIPAA compliant". That is simply not true. As for an official telemetry off-switch, I think most would be in favor of that. As for engineering "best guess", there are no guesses about it.
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Not in an officially supported way, a requirement which should go without saying when we're talking about HIPAA compliance. In other words, garage hacks and temporary band aids as best guesses don't count, since Microsoft will undo them in the next major update.

As for an official telemetry off switch, well you'd think most would be in favor of, but there are always the astroturfers that want to go around in circles arguing Facebook and Google do XYZ and therefore we shouldn't care what happens on our PCs. Fucking ponderous.

Sorry but people opting in to Facebook or people opting in to Google Apps do not create in me an obligation to leak a 24/7 stream of 2000+ data points from my PC to Microsoft with no opt out.
 
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Because microsoft do not have a history of making outlandish statements


1. “I’m going to f*cking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to f*cking kill Google.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

2. “Linux is not in the public domain. Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches. That’s the way that the license works.” (The Register)

3. “Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers…. (Watch it on YouTube)

4. “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item.” (USA Today)

5. “I don’t know what a monopoly is until somebody tells me,” (USA Today)

6. “My children – in many dimensions they’re as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I’ve got my kids brainwashed: You don’t use Google, and you don’t use an iPod.” (Fortune)

7. “We’ve had DRM in Windows for years. The most common format of music on an iPod is “stolen”.” (The Register)

8. “Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.” (Seattle Times)
9. “You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone. I think you do to use an Android Phone… It is hard for me to be excited about the Android phones.” (Web 2.0 Conference 2011)

10. “We [Microsoft] don’t have a monopoly. We have market share. There’s a difference.” (Unknown)
 
HoffY said:
Citation needed.

Nice assumption. The argument people make is...

Someone else collects data there for it is ok that MS collect data without consent.

That is the only argument they have with their "but muh google" retort because they can't actually comprehend that people dont want their privacy lost no matter who does it and that this discussion is talking about MS's version of forcing users data to be harvested with no consent nor means to opt out in a legit and honest fashion.




Nice waffle speak. Do you watn to create any more fantasy meanings into what i said? Go on.. make up something else like that i'm a nazi or a kkk member. Thats the level of brain-dead that statement of yours conveys. i should not even need to explain the point.. it is clear and many have no issues comprehending the point.
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Hey, as long as you hate Microsoft, it is all fair game, no matter what......... And really, you do not think Google is the worst data harvester of all? They built their entire business on it, get real. His point is that those who do not concern themselves with Apple or Android doing it will not be concerned with Microsoft doing it, if they even are. So, can you provide me proof that my documents and pictures are being data harvested and stolen by MS? Proof dude, because that is the one thing everyone here seems to lack. Go ahead, I will wait........
 
ManofGod said:
So, can you provide me proof that my documents and pictures are being data harvested and stolen by MS? Proof dude, because that is the one thing everyone here seems to lack. Go ahead, I will wait........
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Claims of Microsoft stealing personal data are not new but it's an EXTREMELY serious claim and something that I'm more than happy people being vigilant over and keeping Microsoft accountable. But after all the years of Windows being in the wild there should be some solid evidence of it by now. Windows 10 alone has been out for over two years now and is hundreds of millions of PCs. There should be some sign of something by now if this is as bad as some proclaim it to be.
 
ManofGod said:
Hey, as long as you hate Microsoft, it is all fair game,
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What drugs are you on? You are the one inserting "you hate MS" here. I have never said i hate MS. Stop making assumptions of peoples comments because you can't get passed your own bias so you project that onto others statements.

ManofGod said:
And really, you do not think Google is the worst data harvester of all?
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This is a topic about MS and THEIR data harvesting antics. Again... stay on topic and stop trying to lesson the bad actions of your beloved company that you can't have an honest covnversation about the actual points of argument.
ManofGod said:
His point is that those who do not concern themselves with Apple or Android doing it will not be concerned with Microsoft doing it, if they even are.
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The sky is blue.... yay! Well done. Its still irrelevant. This is about MS and there product. But no you just can't possible accept that they did done wrong. That'd be just to honest and logical!
ManofGod said:
So, can you provide me proof that my documents and pictures are being data harvested and stolen by MS? Proof dude, because that is the one thing everyone here seems to lack. Go ahead, I will wait..
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umm.. you can wait. I have never made any claim about photos being stolen or "harvested", there is no burden of proof on someone not making any claims. You are seriously on some genuine drugs.
 
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MS proves their own shady behaviour every time they post their quarterly numbers. lol

Earnings Release FY17 Q4
- Search advertising revenue increased $791 million or 15%. Search advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, increased 9%, primarily driven by growth in Bing, due to higher revenue per search and search volume.

-Windows revenue increased $177 million or 4%,

So to break that down.... Windows now accounts for 4400 million in revenue per quarter. (yes that is all version of windows including enterprise and server) Advertising now accounts for almost 6500 million. Just last quarter windows was still ahead in terms of revenue.... so there it is 100% official now MS makes ALLOT more on advertising then they do windows.

Earnings Release FY16 Q1
- Search advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, increased $127 million or 23%, primarily driven by growth in Bing, due to higher revenue per search and search volume.

-Windows revenue decreased $322 million or 7%

This is how the picture looked for MS at the dawn of Windows 10. Windows sales where almost dead even to what they are today around 4600 million or so. Advertising was making them a whooping 550 million or so.

So to be completely clear.... 2 years ago. MS advertising business was very very bad. (seriously Yahoo reported 1.47 billion in revenue in Q4 that year... and we all considered them dead right, even though they where making 3x what MS advertising group was making) In the 2 years since the launch of Windows 10.... search is now making 30% more revenue then every windows sku combined.

I mean I'm sure that has nothing at all to do with windows 10.... I'm sure its because Bing has just gotten that good. /s

You can QQ that ya ya well google harvests even more info if you like.... there is one HUGE difference.

Google.com is a web page... and I can simply choose to type Bing.com instead or duckduckgo.com or any other damn search agent I feel like using. I am also free to use or not use any service they offer. MS has REMOVED that option for many people, they have tied bing web search into their Operating Systems file search. They have closely paired their edge browser which most people use because well MS scares them into using it. Heck I doubt even their delay getting extensions working with edge wasn't completely on purpose. If Edge hadn't tanked so hard I doubt they would have ever added the ability to enable ad blockers.

What some of the MS boosters here are missing is what the data MS collects is good for.

They are NOT SELLING IT.

If you owned a goose that laid golden freaking eggs would you sell the goose or the eggs ? If you answer the goose your a fucking moron clearly.

MS uses the data to make Bing a freaking great advertising platform for companies wanting to target demographics... and believe me advertisers are noticing that, which is 100% why MS search group now makes 30% more revenue for MS then windows. (MS doesn't report actual profit margins but make no mistake all that cheddar from search also has a lot higher margin).
MS uses all their OS data to enhance their Ad platform. If you don't believe me just pretend you wanted to place an online ad and search the web for 20 min... check out all the comparisons and cost break downs ect. You will find that most people agree Bing is in fact the better advertising platform for advertisers. Bing ads are much more focused and although they still get fewer eyes then a Google ad, they tend to get the right eyes and get the advertiser better bang for the buck.
This is from a random website I found that compared bing vs google for advertisers;
"Probably the most innovative and underused offering from Bing Ads is the ability to control which gender and age demographics see your search ads. Demographic targeting can be controlled at either the campaign or ad group level within Bing Ads."

MS IS 100% using your personal data if your running windows 10... For their own profit, not selling your data, rather putting it to work selling advertisers the ability to target you directly.
 
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