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Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

hakspek.com

221–230 of 289 posts

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#221
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know, right? A kid thinks they're safely researching things that are important to them, but that's not at all true. Statistically, it's almost certain that a kid somewhere has been beaten because of what their parents read in that report. When we're developing new features, we have to take into account ways they'll be twisted and abused. If anyone evaluated this before its development, and they were intellectually…

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Literally no one in this thread has been calling for these TOOLS to be outlawed: that's entirely your straw man. However, I 100% through and through believe that they should be disable by default and enabled only by those specific parents who want them.

In another comment, you say that I had to enable these TOOLS. That is factually incorrect. I do not want to use them and did not enable them when initially setting my son's Windows 8 laptop. I did not enable them when upgrading to Windows 8.1. I did not enable them when upgrading to Windows 10, but received the spy report the next business day after performing the upgrade.

These TOOLS are on by default, until you explicitly disable them. I am not calling for them to be outlawed. I'm calling for them to be turned off unless and until parents personally and explicitly choose to turn them on.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#222
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If parents fail to monitor their kids and something "bad" happens (e.g. kid gives out too much personal info, kid reads stuff not age appropriate, etc) then when it is discovered everyone online yells that those parents are "bad" and how "it is up to parents to monitor their kids." In fact this is standard practice whenever online censorship for the sake of kids is discussed ("it is up to the parents to parent!!").…

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I don't know about millennia ago, but at least 50 years ago there were smutty magazines for kids to gawk at if they felt like (and probably often did), and as far as bullying is concerned, i'm sure that many a HNer will confirm that pre-internet bullying was definitely a thing, too, and that also happened neatly outside of parents' jurisdiction/view.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#223
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, but I can't justify this being enabled by default. As something parents can turn on if they feel they need to, sure, but not like this.

[deleted]

> It isn't on by default.

Yes, it is.

> It is on when you've told Microsoft "hey, this is my kid's account, I am their parent." Seems like a pretty reasonable default in that very specific scenario.

So you're admitting that it's on by default in that scenario. Which scenario did you imagine I was referring to?

This is a horrible, terrible, unreasonable default setting. Also consider that the same mechanisms that make it possible for you to spy on your kid could make it possible for your significant other, employer, or any other interested party to do the same against you.

Face it: Windows 10 is pwned by design and default. It is an unacceptable risk in any situation I can imagine it being used for.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#224
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That helpful comment got two downvotes and well over a hundred upvotes. This is an extreme example of why HN has a guideline asking people not to comment about being downvoted. Most of the fluctuation is ephemeral, and most comments about it soon become inaccurate. We've detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10110543 and marked it off topic.

sorry :(

Please don't feel bad! Your contributions are overwhelmingly positive, and we're grateful. The reason I post stuff like the above is not to reprimand anyone, it's to feed reminders about the guidelines into the community.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#225
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automatically spying on kids without their knowledge if their parents upgrade the computer to Windows 10 ... seems reasonable to you?

[deleted]

> Parents have a right and a responsibility to monitor their kids.

You seem to be confusing monitoring with minute scrutiny.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#227
post #164
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds too crazy to believe. If true, I think I would be forced to stop using windows all together.

are you using google or facebook? might want to consider dropping those, too.

No to facebook and I'm working towards moving away from gmail. Still using google search though for now.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#229
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds too crazy to believe. If true, I think I would be forced to stop using windows all together.

If you haven't stopped yet, this won't change anything. Edit: bury me if you want, it doesn't make what I say any less true.

I've never heard of MS key-logging everything you type and broadcasting it to their servers. If that were true, I would 100% not use windows. I only use my windows box for steam games and that's mostly for dota2 these days which has a linux client.

I don't know why you would assume to know me so well.

Re: Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy on You Like Windows 10

#230
post #178
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is any of this verified? During a previous posting of this it was largely dismissed as propaganda [1]. If someone has reproduced these findings that would be very interesting. What would be even more interesting would be for someone to intercept the spying data that is being sent back so we know for sure what's being sent. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10053420

Well, seeing that 80 MB every 15 minutes is over 35 Tb/s (at only 50 million Win 10 users [1]), and 12 Tb/s was the reigning speed record... [1] http://www.winbeta.org/news/there-are-now-over-50-million-pe...

No, that's actually 0.8 Mb/s
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