Microsoft responds to Windows 10 privacy concerns

[Trik'Stari]

I've got two words to describe this story:

 

Horse Shit

[Murdoch]

I opened the link expecting a proper explanation with lots of details and all I got was the typical damage control PR bullshit.

 

Yeah ofc it's PR, but it's PR responding to the concerns people have expressed.

 

At least they are aware privacy is an issue that people care about. And this quote: "We really appreciate the rich dialogue in making Windows 10 better for all of us. We will continue to listen and respond, to earn your trust." is fairly pertinent, they are aware transparency is the way to go, being deceitful will fuck them in the long run.

[christianled59]

This security bullshit people are flipping out about is like how people thought their GTX 970 performed worse when they found out it had 3.5gb +500mb of slow ram of VRAM. It's always been there. There is no problem. It's a operating system that "operates" as its intended to do. And no, I do not believe its intents are to spy on you. It's microsoft, not the NSA.

 

Edit: added the 500mb vram to the reference so people don't think I'm ignorant. I was generalizing.

[Sharp_3yE]

This security bullshit people are flipping out about is like how people thought their GTX 970 performed worse when they found out it had 3.5gb of VRAM. It's always been there. There is no problem. It's a operating system that "operates" as its intended to do. And no, I do not believe its intents are to spy on you. It's microsoft, not the NSA.

GTX 970 has 4gb of vram. 3.5 gb is just faster then 500 mb on the card. So, if you use more then 3.5 gb the card then has to use the 500 mb that is slower which causes some performance issues.

[EChondo]

All I know is that I don't trust Microsoft enough anymore to upgrade to Windows 10. I'm just going to stick with Windows 8.1 and slowly transition over to Linux since I don't see Windows 11 being any better than 10 is right now.

 

Hell I'm already on a dual boot with Mint and loving it. If I lose half of my games by switching to Linux then so be it.

[Sharp_3yE]

Here is my take,

 

The Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group took the time to write a blog out of his busy day and you STILL are skeptical. You guys are NUTS! I'm all for privacy and giving the user control and I'm glade someone was trying to find out if turning off the privacy settings actually turns them off but you people come up with the craziest ideas/conspiracy theories.

 

This isn't a movie where the "rich business man" is malicious and trying to screw over everyone. It's Microsoft. They guys who have gone to court to protect user privacy several times. So, now that they brought more tracking stuff that all smartphones have to Windows 10 everyone is now going crazy. Guys, Google going into your gmail, they collect tons of data that is also impersonal yet none of you are talking about that.

[GoodBytes]

What does that has to do with them forcing an upgrade to change anything said here even by you without you knowing since they don't feel is necessary to disclose all changes on updates?

 

Please reply to the points instead of misquoting and posting random "facts" not relevant to the points being made.

You can say that for any software. They wont' do it, because it is suicidal. What prevents Google putting flash like HTML 5 ads when you search, with audio. and not put in a folder called "ads" or putting it as an iframe, so ad blockers can't filter them out? How about changing the privacy policy of Chrome including the one on Android. Google lives not fixing really serious security issues of olderer Android OS. They can filter out Chrome web browser released by others from the search results. They can even block you from using Google if you dont' use the latest and greatest version of Chrome, which contains bank information tracking, to steal your bank financial, and passwords.

 

Oh yea, because IT IS STUPID and SUICIDAL!

 

That is like going "I don't trust my neighbor and any other family member, they can stab me on the back and kill me at any time".  You are being paranoid, plain and simple, and you are refusing to read privacy policy, with common sense.

[Nineshadow]

source code or those are just words tossed in the air

There's open-source for that.

Windows isn't open-source.

[Sharp_3yE]

All I know is that I don't trust Microsoft enough anymore to upgrade to Windows 10. I'm just going to stick with Windows 8.1 and slowly transition over to Linux since I don't see Windows 11 being any better than 10 is right now.

 

Hell I'm already on a dual boot with Mint and loving it. If I lose half of my games by switching to Linux then so be it.

You do know that 8.1 has a lot of the collecting that W10 already has right? A lot of it started in 8.1. You do have a smartphone right? Your smartphone collects the same kind of data. Thing is MS doesn't go through any personal data and makes their data impersonal. The data that is collects is in no way tied to you directly. They make sure of that. Microsoft is a company that has gone to court several times to protect their user's data/privacy.

[GoodBytes]

I've got two words to describe this story:

 

Horse Shit

All I know is that I don't trust Microsoft enough anymore to upgrade to Windows 10. I'm just going to stick with Windows 8.1 and slowly transition over to Linux since I don't see Windows 11 being any better than 10 is right now.

Hell I'm already on a dual boot with Mint and loving it. If I lose half of my games by switching to Linux then so be it.

Of course. You are a Microsoft basher. There is nothing in the world that will convince you otherwise, even if you have the source code in front of you. You'll always have some crazy idea to not trust them. You hate the company for some reason, and unwilling to be open about it.

[GoodBytes]

There's open-source for that.

Windows isn't open-source.

That is not going to change. People will have crazy ideas on how Microsoft injected code, or redirect publicly accessible telemetry data for tracking, using UFO technology, directly from Area 51

[GoodBytes]

You can turn Cortana off, but Cortana runs regardless. You can choose to not have Bing results appear in your search menu, but even if you choose this your typing data gets sent to Bing regardless.

 

You are not in control -- the controls you do have are mainly cosmetic.

When Cortana is off (which is by the way by default), it is off. It does nothing beside being a search box, like the one from Windows 8 or 7 with web search. It pings Bing to show web results, like Windows 8.

[Nineshadow]

That is not going to change. People will have crazy ideas on how Microsoft injected code, or redirect publicly accessible telemetry data for tracking, using UFO technology, directly from Area 51

Not even sure why people are being so paranoid.

[Trik'Stari]

Of course. You are a Microsoft basher. There is nothing in the world that will convince you otherwise, even if you have the source code in front of you. You'll always have some crazy idea to not trust them. You hate the company for some reason, and unwilling to be open about it.

If I had the source code, I would be more than willing to trust them. As it stands, we don't have the source code. Hell, they won't even detail what's in the update they force down your throats.

 

You'll have to forgive me for not implicitly trusting a multi-billion dollar corporation to have my best interests at heart.

[LAwLz]

Yeah ofc it's PR, but it's PR responding to the concerns people have expressed.

 

At least they are aware privacy is an issue that people care about. And this quote: "We really appreciate the rich dialogue in making Windows 10 better for all of us. We will continue to listen and respond, to earn your trust." is fairly pertinent, they are aware transparency is the way to go, being deceitful will fuck them in the long run.

I really hope they do become more transparent in the future. If their goal is to earn my trust then this blog post has been counter productive, because all it has shown me is that Microsoft are 100% okay and willing to not just tell half the truth in order to deceive people, but also flat out lie about things.

 

 

And no, I do not believe its intents are to spy on you. It's microsoft, not the NSA.

Microsoft has helped the NSA with their spying many times in the past. We know this because it was in the documents Edward Snowden leaked.

 

 

Not even sure why people are being so paranoid.

It's not paranoia when we have evidence to support a lot of the claims towards Microsoft, such as their privacy settings not actually turning off a lot of the tracking going on, and them helping the NSA to spy on people.

 

 

 

You ARE in control. You have the options.

And what you are talking about is called telemetry data. Something that is embedded in Windows since XP days. It was NEVER a problem, never been a problem for all your devices as well, just now with Windows 10. Sorry, but I am not buying you are saying.

No I am not in control. I have some (very limited) options but a lot of them don't actually turn things off, and I don't have the option to turn a lot of things completely off.

How can you even say with a straight face that people are in control when they clearly aren't? And no this has not been embedded since Windows XP. The few things that has been going on since the XP days (such as the CEIP) were OPT-IN. That means you had to explicitly say "yes I want you to collect data about my usage". Now it has been reversed so that you have to say "no I don't want you to collect data about me", and then they still do it.

Please stop trying to make it seem like nothing has changed since Windows XP because it has. It has changed a lot.

[EChondo]

You do know that 8.1 has a lot of the collecting that W10 already has right? A lot of it started in 8.1. You do have a smartphone right? Your smartphone collects the same kind of data. Thing is MS doesn't go through any personal data and makes their data impersonal. The data that is collects is in no way tied to you directly. They make sure of that. Microsoft is a company that has gone to court several times to protect their user's data/privacy.

Yeah and I can block all of it on the OS level, I can see what my PC is transmitting over my switch as well. Nothing is leaking out my 8.1 install, but when I tested W10 out and turned off everything I could find I was seeing MS domains being contacted, so I feel perfectly fine staying with 8.1 till I switch over to Linux.

 

As for the smartphone thing, I only use my phone for texts and calls and I don't sign in with a Google account either. So I fail to see how my smartphone is collecting any data other than I make calls and text people, which isn't the concerns I'm having on the desktop side.

 

Also I don't care if all of the data they collect about me is impersonal and no way tied to me, I don't want any data collected about me or my computer installation. If Microsoft really cared about our concerns they would have responded within the first month of these concerns being a thing, but they didn't and when they finally responded it's all PR hogwash.

 

Of course. You are a Microsoft basher. There is nothing in the world that will convince you otherwise, even if you have the source code in front of you. You'll always have some crazy idea to not trust them. You hate the company for some reason, and unwilling to be open about it.

Geez, being skeptical of a company=conspiracy theorist it seems. Lets all blindly trust all corporations when it comes to issues like this. /s

 

And I don't hate Microsoft for the record, I just don't trust them. Not trusting them does not mean I automatically hate them.

 

Also Microsoft responding to our concerns literally MONTHS after its release won't fix anything. 

[Murdoch]

I really hope they do become more transparent in the future. If their goal is to earn my trust then this blog post has been counter productive, because all it has shown me is that Microsoft are 100% okay and willing to not just tell half the truth in order to deceive people, but also flat out lie about things.

 

For me, this sort of PR backs them into the corner I want them to be in. In that, they won't be able to collect my personal information without my implicit consent. Or at the worst, face a huge backlash if they do.

 

But I 100% agree that currently they are not being transparent enough. The PR statement gives few details beyond rhetoric, if you want to build my trust, as with many things in life, let me at least see some evidence.

[TopWargamer]

@EChondo

@GoodBytes

 

Please read these.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/01/microsoft_backports_data_slurp_to_windows_78_via_patches/

https://bgr.com/2015/08/28/windows-10-features-spying-windows-7-8/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/30/windows-10-spying-on-windows-7-and-windows-8/

 

Personally, I love Microsoft and their products. I mainly use OneDrive and Office. I like them, but I don't condone their data mining, unless it's being mined anonymously. Google does this, and very few people care, because it's being mined anonymously.

[suicidalfranco]

There's open-source for that.

Windows isn't open-source.

and that's why i can't trust their claims; example of another case of proprietary software doing exactly the opposite of what it's company claims: VW

[EChondo]

@EChondo

Please read these.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/01/microsoft_backports_data_slurp_to_windows_78_via_patches/

https://bgr.com/2015/08/28/windows-10-features-spying-windows-7-8/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/30/windows-10-spying-on-windows-7-and-windows-8/

Thanks, but I already knew this and have taken the appropriate measures to remove/block these things.

 

There's actually a growing list of non-descriptive/privacy invasive updates out there for Windows Update, some have written batch scripts to remove them as well.

 

There was an article that had a list, and I bookmarked it, but I can't seem to access the article: http://www.hakspek.com/security/updates-make-windows-7-and-8-spy-on-you-like-windows-10/

 

However I saved a list a while back from the article's comment section, here's what they listed;

KB2952664 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10 (sends a bunch of telemetry data to M$, reported to corrupt system files)

KB2976978 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB2977759 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10, installs telemetry

KB2990214 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB3021917 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB3022345 – installs diagnostic tracking service, reported to corrupt system files

KB3035583 – pitches the free Windows 10 upgrade

KB3044374 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB3050265 – supposedly fixes an issue with windows update, but also changes system files to support upgrade to Windows 10

KB3050267 – prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB3068708 – installs telemetry service, prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10

KB2922324 – (reportedly pulled, uninstall it anyway if already installed)

KB3014460 – affects windows 8 only

KB3015249 – adds more damn telemetry

KB3065987 – makes “improvements” to the windows update client (really just more Win10 bullshit)

KB3075249 – adds yet more telemetry

KB3075851 – makes “improvements” to the windows update client (really just more Win10 bullshit)

KB3080149 – adds yet more telemetry

 

The comments on the side aren't mine btw, just what the person wrote with the list.

 

*Edit, someone did an archive of the article, so you can read/view it here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150824023803/http://www.hakspek.com/security/updates-make-windows-7-and-8-spy-on-you-like-windows-10/

[suicidalfranco]

Geez, being skeptical of a company=conspiracy theorist it seems. Lets all blindly trust all corporations when it comes to issues like this. /s

 

And I don't hate Microsoft for the record, I just don't trust them. Not trusting them does not mean I automatically hate them.

 

Also Microsoft responding to our concerns literally MONTHS after its release won't fix anything. 

Its called being a fanboy, and as Jay and Barn have stated many times: fanboyism is a mental illness.

So don't worry about him

[Marvzl1357]

While I understand people's concern about their data potentially being tracked. Let's be honest, who are you again? You're probably so insignificant to Microsoft that they wouldn't even care that they have your data.

People that can "track" windows 10 network activity, can you actually analyse what's going back to Microsoft? Exactly what data is being sent back to Microsoft domains?

People are being wayyyyyyy too paranoid about this. On top of that, it's Microsoft, (probably) the largest software company in the world, if they get caught for spying on users, the shit they'll get into will be so deep they'll be buried under the next Everest, but of shit.

[christianled59]

GTX 970 has 4gb of vram. 3.5 gb is just faster then 500 mb on the card. So, if you use more then 3.5 gb the card then has to use the 500 mb that is slower which causes some performance issues.

Dude, I know. I was generalizing. I have a 970 myself. I didn't mean to bring up the whole fiasco, I was merely referencing it.

[JAKEBAB]

How can they deleted pirated games then?

[GoodBytes]

How can they deleted pirated games then?

They don't. But if they find you hacked the App Store of Microsoft to get paying apps for free, then by fixing the hack, your pirated apps from the App Store can be removed, or no longer lunch successfully.