21–30 of 106 posts
Microsoft is a post-privacy corporation. Eventually, we really have to stop acting so shocked about this sort of thing from them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least Debian and Ubuntu have /etc/machine-id, presumably easily changed - but it’s there.
I mean, there's a ton of unique identifiers on machines already tied to hardware and disks, but that must be a systemd thing since my Devuan machine does not have it. But given there's no cloud accounts on linux I would imagine it's trivially changed just like a NIC's MAC Also, seems unlikely it would be used for any single-signon with cloud services.
> Microsoft provided the FBI with the history of IP addresses tied to that specific GDID. This article, and most articles about this, doesn't explain where FBI got that GDID from. Ok, Microsoft has a list of IP addresses that has been used by a computer with a certain GDID, but FBI needs to get the GDID in the first place, and then try to bind that to a person. I found another article that explains the process a bit…
when LTSC exists why are people using W11 ?
As I grow older, I simply do not have the patience or the will to do all these workarounds and tweaks to my OS to turn it from a piece of barely-working corporate spyware into something that I can call a productive tool.
It also seems like interacting with the OS is on its way out anyway, as most people essentially interact with computers via the browser (essentially a different sandboxed OS altogether), whether on desktop or mobile device.
> Microsoft provided the FBI with the history of IP addresses tied to that specific GDID. This article, and most articles about this, doesn't explain where FBI got that GDID from. Ok, Microsoft has a list of IP addresses that has been used by a computer with a certain GDID, but FBI needs to get the GDID in the first place, and then try to bind that to a person. I found another article that explains the process a bit…
It's called telemetry. It means Windows sends data back to Microsoft about what you're doing.
"required" spyware: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/required-d...
"optional" (but on by default) spyware: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/optional-d...
This is my favorite:
Data Description for Browsing History data type
Microsoft browser data subtype: Information about Address bar and Search box performance on the device
* Text typed in Address bar and Search box
* Service response time
* Autocompleted text, if there was an autocomplete
* Navigation suggestions provided based on local history and favorites
* Browser ID
* URLs (may include search terms)
* Page title and notification textthis is a Windows 11 thing only? when LTSC exists why are people using W11 ?
this is a Windows 11 thing only? when LTSC exists why are people using W11 ?