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MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

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Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#291

Post by mschuster91 »

drdexebtjl wrote: post #208
mschuster91 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IANAL but they are not a government or financial institution and do not have a right to that information. As soon as you purchase something from Microsoft - e.g. your Office 365 subscription - they have at the very least your billing address on file for the credit card.

We gotta stop normalizing that. Why do you need my address to receive my money? My birth date? Even in places with strong privacy regulations requiring businesses not to collect data they don’t need, businesses apparently get away with asking this.

The problem is CC processors. You can get away as a merchant with just a number and expiration date, that's the minimum you need to process a CC payment, but you pay exorbitantly higher fees. The more details you collect and pass on, the lower your processor's risk fee will be because the more info, the more likely it is that the customer is actually the cardholder and not using fraudulently obtained data.

And as soon as you connect with telephony systems (e.g. VoIP numbers) or rent out servers, some countries' telecom KYC laws apply that also force MS to collect validated address data.

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#292

Post by TonyStr »

userbinator wrote: post #240

after a local Stable Diffusion image generation The request is JSON and contains at least these fields:..."prompt": "..." Local SD (especially the earlier versions) is already uncensored, so they're effectively crippling it with additional spyware that phones home to tell Microsoft what you're doing and asking whether they approve of it. IMHO the invisible watermark isn't the worst part, but rather the fact that MS i…

What happens if you try to use this feature without being connected to the internet? Will it refuse to run the local AI model?

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#293

Post by pdntspa »

altmanaltman wrote: post #259
weberer wrote: post #24

The AI aspect of this is a red herring. The real problem is that they're secretly adding in a unique identifier into every image you create. If somebody does not like your meme, they can just send a copyright subpoena to Microsoft to instantly get your full name, address, email, phone number, and any other data associated with your Microsoft account. Just like age verification, this is another weapon in the war again…

Why would they need to subpoena Microsoft and why will Microsoft hand them the data if someone doesn't like my meme? I understand what you are trying to say but it does not make a whole lot of sense even from Microsoft pov. They are not bound by law to hand over personal data to anyone without a warrant issued. If a warrant is issued then it is their lawful duty to give that data, the same would be done by you if you…

You can incentivize cooperation without having to compel action with a warrant. This sort of corrupt quid pro quo is quite common, in other countries at least...

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#294

Post by GJim »

mosura wrote: post #97
pjc50 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really needs to be hit with the GDPR hammer. Microsoft have not obtained consent for this.

Why would the EU possibly object to this? It is exactly what they want.

Ummmmmmmm. No.

Inserting a tracker that can personally identify me without my explicit opt-in consent is a GDPR breach. I'm surprised you do not not this.

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#295

Post by shevy-java »

Great detective work.

With regards to Microsoft being ... uhm ... "transparent":

> The same page says that generated images:

> “will contain C2PA manifest helping users identify that it is an AI generated image.”

> [...] That is a meaningful disclosure of remote filtering and C2PA metadata.

> C2PA manifest contains a GUID identifying the invisible pixel watermark

> Calling the feature “Content Credentials” is accurate, but it does not > make this prompt-associated identifier obvious to a Windows user.

I don't think this is accurate, because without that detective work, most people would have no idea that Microsoft tags and tracks the images here. This reminds me of printers printing identifiers to ID individuals. What this to me means is that I can no longer use any such Microsoft services, because there is no trust for me here. Microsoft sniffs on me, if I were to use these software products. AI is a big spy-op too.

Microsoft could easily admit "we watermark all your images, whether you like it or not", but corporate speak forbids this and they don't really admit to it. They do not use the word watermark officially, but their .dll names reveal it. That means they resort to deceit and propaganda.

It really is time to strengthen the whole open source ecosystem. I no longer want my taxpayer's money to go into traitorous US companies that abuse EU citizens here. (Note: the same would apply to EU companies, but the USA dominates the software sector, unfortunately. This also has to change permanently.)

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#296

Post by shevy-java »

weberer wrote: post #24

The AI aspect of this is a red herring. The real problem is that they're secretly adding in a unique identifier into every image you create. If somebody does not like your meme, they can just send a copyright subpoena to Microsoft to instantly get your full name, address, email, phone number, and any other data associated with your Microsoft account. Just like age verification, this is another weapon in the war again…

Indeed. This also means I can no longer use Microsoft apps, because they spy on me.

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#297

Post by shevy-java »

Rendello wrote: post #173
Terr_ wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a unique identifier into every image you create Printing (even text) is also a risk: It's very likely your printer is secretly adding marks to the page that contain its serial number and the current timestamp. [0] Meanwhile Microsoft (and Apple) have "telemetry" harvesting those serial numbers of all internal and external devices you've ever had connected or reachable. Then they link them to your MS/Apple account,…

> It's very likely your printer is secretly adding marks to the page It's most likely how the FBI caught NSA leaker Reality Winner: > Both journalists and security experts have suggested that The Intercept's handling of the documents, which included publishing the documents unredacted and including the printer tracking dots, was used to identify Winner as the leaker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Winner

Yeah - these criminal agencies use this to protect their billionaire buddies on top. The Epstein network must be really huge. I always wondered how one or two person can meta-coordinate +5000 underage girl and their +10000 customers. That never made any sense to me, yet suspiciously enough only Ghislaine is in prison. That does not add up.

Re: MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID

#298

Post by davidwritesbugs »

Rendello wrote: post #173
Terr_ wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a unique identifier into every image you create Printing (even text) is also a risk: It's very likely your printer is secretly adding marks to the page that contain its serial number and the current timestamp. [0] Meanwhile Microsoft (and Apple) have "telemetry" harvesting those serial numbers of all internal and external devices you've ever had connected or reachable. Then they link them to your MS/Apple account,…

> It's very likely your printer is secretly adding marks to the page It's most likely how the FBI caught NSA leaker Reality Winner: > Both journalists and security experts have suggested that The Intercept's handling of the documents, which included publishing the documents unredacted and including the printer tracking dots, was used to identify Winner as the leaker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Winner

This seems like something that could be confirmed by reverse engineering a printer’s firmware? Surely someone has done that?
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