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Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#61

Post by vetinari »

skrebbel wrote: post #41

I fully agree with the complaints, but I never understood why this outrage doesn't happen about e.g. Gmail (or all of ChromeOS for that matter). Lots of people virtually live in Google Apps, which certainly does a lot more tracking than Windows 10 does. The argument that "it's OK because it's on the web" just doesn't cut it anymore guys. An application is an application. We should just be as angry about browsers that…

When you started using Gmail or ChromeOS, you started with understanding, that you are using a browser and everything happens pretty much on Google servers.

When you started using Windows, it was pretty much offline affair. Many people were connected to internet only occasionally, if at all.

So basically, Gmail/ChromeOS was adding something to your options - you have a new service, you can decide whether you can start using it - or not. Windows is taking away from you - you were using it for years, maybe decades, most of the world is dependent on it, and suddenly, the rules of the game change and you cannot do anything about it.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#62

Post by dimman »

dantillberg wrote: post #60

I spent my holiday break shifting my alignment 2 or 3 points towards Stallmanism. The existence/collection of statistics like this increase my confidence in that choice. Between Windows privacy craziness and Apple's continuing lockdown of OSX (I think that System Integrity Protection augurs an iOS-like walled-garden future for OSX), I recently switched all of my OSX/Windows/Ubuntu systems to Arch Linux; it takes some…

joke Let's hope you won't get systemd'd now instead end joke

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#63

Post by stan_rogers »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #22
crummy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Ubuntu?

Yup. What the hell are these people thinking? That an operating system is a shopping mall?... ... and they're probably right anyway. Computing went mainstream, people who need tools and not toys are niche now, and mass market doesn't cater to niches.

It's more proper to say that there are a lot of people who "need" a different sort of toolset. It's not about "toys"; it's about the machine as an information device for a life outside of the machine. As much as any of us like to complain about things like intrusive "peronalized" search everywhere and targeted ads and so forth, there's a reason why such things sell (until people are told what needs to be involved in making it work).

Honestly, most people are fine with the magic until they realize how much surveillance the magician does. I have no idea how they think it's supposed to work, but then most folks don't know how any part of their computer works.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#64

Post by lewisl9029 »

I still can't imagine why Microsoft would think it's worth the bad publicity to not offer the option to disable telemetry, considering how few people tend to deviate from defaults in general, and how tiny a percentage of their users even care about privacy to begin with (evident from the commercial success of Windows 10).

They've been getting so much goodwill for all the other great things they've been doing lately. It just seems downright foolish to squander all of that for a few extra basis points in their telemetry data from those rare few users who care about privacy but are forced to use Windows 10 anyways for whatever reason.

Those who care about privacy but do have a choice in OS will simply avoid Windows 10 altogether because of the mandatory telemetry, which is telemetry data that they wouldn't be getting anyways. A certain percentage of these people could be Windows 10 users if it weren't for the mandatory telemetry. Would they really rather have people using other OSes, than having them use Windows 10 without giving them telemetry data?

So many aspects of their position on this issue seems completely irrational to me.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#65

Post by jinst8gmi »

mikegerwitz wrote: post #7

Let's start gathering statistics on how many times people open their refrigerator, or use the toilet, or take a shower. What's more concerning about these data aren't these specific numbers, but what other data that implies that they have, what they can do with it, and what they can infer about you from it. Privacy and anonymity aren't (reasonably) possible on a Windows 10 operating system. Any entity knowing that I…

> Let's start gathering statistics on how many times people open their refrigerator, or use the toilet, or take a shower.

Just think of the targeted advertising opportunities based on toilet usage statistics!

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#66

Post by MollyR »

krisdol wrote: post #15
chinathrow wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which would be what OS?

Not parent, but W10 convinced to me commit to using only Linux at home. Used to be Linux-exclusive for years in college, so I figure why not. My work and portables are all OS X, which is still far more privacy conscious than W10.

I agree. At work I'm forced to use windows and osx (supporting enterprise users), but I've begun testing various linux os's (mint,arch,elementary) as preparation to leave windows behind for personal use. I've actually found it to be liberating in a weird way.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#67

Post by andrewchambers »

cm2187 wrote: post #51
mikegerwitz wrote: post #7

Let's start gathering statistics on how many times people open their refrigerator, or use the toilet, or take a shower. What's more concerning about these data aren't these specific numbers, but what other data that implies that they have, what they can do with it, and what they can infer about you from it. Privacy and anonymity aren't (reasonably) possible on a Windows 10 operating system. Any entity knowing that I…

What I would like to know if how much of this tracking is not blocked by installing something like Spybot's Anti-Beacon ( https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/ ) and using a Local Account. If all it takes is to install a similar tool when I buy a new machine, it's not a big deal. There are many other tools I need to install anyway (winrar, etc).

you don't need winrar, 7zip is far better.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#68

Post by tremon »

dimman wrote: post #62
dantillberg wrote: post #60

I spent my holiday break shifting my alignment 2 or 3 points towards Stallmanism. The existence/collection of statistics like this increase my confidence in that choice. Between Windows privacy craziness and Apple's continuing lockdown of OSX (I think that System Integrity Protection augurs an iOS-like walled-garden future for OSX), I recently switched all of my OSX/Windows/Ubuntu systems to Arch Linux; it takes some…

joke Let's hope you won't get systemd'd now instead end joke

It's a sad state of affairs that these tags are perceived mandatory even here.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#69

Post by bitwize »

dimman wrote: post #57

From the MS blog mentioned I find this section, or how it's formulated, rather interesting and disturbing: "3. Advertising Data We Don’t Collect Unlike some other platforms, no matter what privacy options you choose, neither Windows 10 nor any other Microsoft software scans the content of your email or other communications, or your files, in order to deliver targeted advertising to you." Most people would read that a…

Sometimes "scanning the content of your email or your files" is a desirable feature, for example in an antivirus program.

Re: Microsoft reveals details of Windows 10 usage tracking

#70

Post by ourmandave »

sz4kerto wrote: post #39
mikegerwitz wrote: post #7

Let's start gathering statistics on how many times people open their refrigerator, or use the toilet, or take a shower. What's more concerning about these data aren't these specific numbers, but what other data that implies that they have, what they can do with it, and what they can infer about you from it. Privacy and anonymity aren't (reasonably) possible on a Windows 10 operating system. Any entity knowing that I…

You bet that the smart-toilet manufacturers will track the usage. :/

My wife tracks how many times I don't put the lid down.
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