11–20 of 99 posts
Personally, they've lost my business. I used and loved Thinkpads for many years, but I no longer use them and now recommend against their purchase. Lenovo has a huge trust gap to repair.
Agree with the other commenters here that requiring consent and asking for new hardware to be audited isn't really anywhere near enough of a punishment. I've read through the full settlement here: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/1523134_len... As far as I can tell they've just been ordered to do things they should've been doing already (security testing, asking for consent). Is anyone familiar enough…
Personally, they've lost my business. I used and loved Thinkpads for many years, but I no longer use them and now recommend against their purchase. Lenovo has a huge trust gap to repair.
What OS do you run and what machine would you suggest for it instead?
All of my windows systems run an old copy of win7 and are built from newegg hardware, asus msi etc
There is no TRR addressing the kind of conduct Lenovo engaged in, nor any statute prohibiting such conduct: https://www.ftc.gov/reports/privacy-data-security-update-201.... While the FTC can declare particular practices unfair on a case-by-case basis, without a rule, in that situation it can only issue a cease-and-desist order. 15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(B).
Headline should be: FT allows Lenovo to sell computers with secret hardware again, should they choose to. No one went in jail (try intercepting someone's Https connections) and no crippling fine. Just an agreement that requires consent...you can drive trucks through the loopholes. "Yes, I want to speed up my internet" is one and 90% would click yes /install.
It's really crazy, isn't it??? The company that makes/sells me a couch doesn't currently install a microphone in the couch, so that they can analyze my conversations and sell my data to advertisers. Should they start trying? All of these tech companies are getting away with it!
Amazon Echo Sit
Headline should be: FT allows Lenovo to sell computers with secret hardware again, should they choose to. No one went in jail (try intercepting someone's Https connections) and no crippling fine. Just an agreement that requires consent...you can drive trucks through the loopholes. "Yes, I want to speed up my internet" is one and 90% would click yes /install.
It's really crazy, isn't it??? The company that makes/sells me a couch doesn't currently install a microphone in the couch, so that they can analyze my conversations and sell my data to advertisers. Should they start trying? All of these tech companies are getting away with it!
This is in my opinion too weak of a signal to others. Such a deep invasion of user expectations and privacy should not be so easy to get away with, first time or not.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's really crazy, isn't it??? The company that makes/sells me a couch doesn't currently install a microphone in the couch, so that they can analyze my conversations and sell my data to advertisers. Should they start trying? All of these tech companies are getting away with it!
Coming soon: Amazon Echo Sit
Relaxtion-as-a-service"
Translation
"We're selling an overpriced couch. The couch is manufactured by someone else. The microphone gives us your data. We're working on selling that to as many other people as we can."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's really crazy, isn't it??? The company that makes/sells me a couch doesn't currently install a microphone in the couch, so that they can analyze my conversations and sell my data to advertisers. Should they start trying? All of these tech companies are getting away with it!
Don't give couch manufacturers any ideas! Couches need telemetry too.
1) Sell the couch at a loss.
2) Acquire customer voice data.
3) Run it through ML/AI
4) ????
5) Pivot the company.
Headline should be: FT allows Lenovo to sell computers with secret hardware again, should they choose to. No one went in jail (try intercepting someone's Https connections) and no crippling fine. Just an agreement that requires consent...you can drive trucks through the loopholes. "Yes, I want to speed up my internet" is one and 90% would click yes /install.
It's really crazy, isn't it??? The company that makes/sells me a couch doesn't currently install a microphone in the couch, so that they can analyze my conversations and sell my data to advertisers. Should they start trying? All of these tech companies are getting away with it!