Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 99 posts

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#61

Post by quuquuquu »

mattkevan wrote: post #42
maxxxxx wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have some inflatable cushions that can only be controlled by the cloud.

In app purchases for additional per-seat licences! HealthKit integration! Share the data with your health insurer! "Uh-oh, you exceeded your sitting quota by xx hours this month, so you've been charged a penalty fee of $xx. Don't forget – keep moving to keep saving!" It's a world of opportunity...

Surely there must be a site that floats nuanced and well-formulated posts on satirical and utterly terrible start up ideas, right?

I am sensing a market

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#62

Post by devopsproject »

petepete wrote: post #57
quuquuquu wrote: post #9

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!

The company who sold me a TV sent out an update that embeds advertising in the UI Thanks Samsung.

Issue a chargeback and return it

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#63

Post by devopsproject »

myopinions wrote: post #33
AlexeyBrin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your best bet is to buy a laptop from Microsoft (no 3rd party software) or buy an extra Windows license and do a fresh install.

I'm not sure if that's safe either. I installed Windows 10 recently and the install included apps like Facebook and Twitter. In fact a good portion of the start menu was essentially mini-billboards.

are you sure they were actually installed and not just shortcuts to the web app or to install from the store?

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#64

Post by forapurpose »

rayiner wrote: post #14

For people wondering why there was no hefty fine, it's probably because the FTC had no authority to impose one. Except with regard to children, the FTC isn't specifically empowered to protect "privacy rights." The FTC brought a complaint against Lenovo under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which addresses "unfair competition" and "unfair practices." Historically, that meant false advertising or other abusive practices set…

Is that a generally accepted interpretation, or one of the current administration? Republican administrations generally interpret regulatory power much more narrowly.

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#65

Post by FussyZeus »

CaptSpify wrote: post #53
FussyZeus wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem is open source linux on laptops (for me anyway) has always been a freaking train wreck. Issues with Wifi, battery life is shit, etc.

I'd recommend getting a laptop that is built from the ground up to support Linux. System76 and Purism seem to be doing a decent job (though they are still far from working flawlessly)

No offense intended but a lot of these just seem to be really, really powerful machines designed with the idea that if you throw enough power at Ubuntu, it works better. ;)

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#66

Post by rayiner »

forapurpose wrote: post #64
rayiner wrote: post #14

For people wondering why there was no hefty fine, it's probably because the FTC had no authority to impose one. Except with regard to children, the FTC isn't specifically empowered to protect "privacy rights." The FTC brought a complaint against Lenovo under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which addresses "unfair competition" and "unfair practices." Historically, that meant false advertising or other abusive practices set…

Is that a generally accepted interpretation, or one of the current administration? Republican administrations generally interpret regulatory power much more narrowly.

Aside from being what the statute says, it's a longstanding interpretation. See page 605: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2312913.

> With limited powers and resources, the FTC could have become largely ignored by companies. Indeed, the FTC lacks the general authority to issue civil penalties and rarely fines companies for privacy-related violations under privacy-related statutes or rules that provide for civil penalties. Absent such grounds for issuing a civil penalty, the FTC is limited to fining companies under a contempt action for violating a settlement order.

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#67

Post by AlexeyBrin »

myopinions wrote: post #33
AlexeyBrin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your best bet is to buy a laptop from Microsoft (no 3rd party software) or buy an extra Windows license and do a fresh install.

I'm not sure if that's safe either. I installed Windows 10 recently and the install included apps like Facebook and Twitter. In fact a good portion of the start menu was essentially mini-billboards.

I know, it is sad that they do this even on the Pro version. (You can manually uninstall the FB and Twitter apps.)

Still, the OS is cleaner than what you usually get with the default OEM install.

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#68

Post by irishsultan »

tedunangst wrote: post #44
dmoy wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is a law giving the ftc more power here a secret law?

Did the law exist before Lenovo shipped the fish? Did Lenovo know about it?

I don't know what you said in your previous comment, but a law isn't secret just because it didn't exist at some point in history, because then all laws would be secret laws.

Re: FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware

#70

Post by quuquuquu »

devopsproject wrote: post #62
petepete wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company who sold me a TV sent out an update that embeds advertising in the UI Thanks Samsung.

Issue a chargeback and return it

The chargeback situation in the credit card industry is really so amazing and interesting.

I've charged back everything from erroneously issued parking tickets to flights canceled due to weather.

Every time, the credit card company immediately gives me my money back, settles with the merchant on my behalf, and I have always won.

The question is, who is giving the money to the banks that allows them to take this kind of a loss? People who have credit card debt???

Post reply on HN