Windows 10 privacy concern

[Cvdasfg]

I just upgraded to windows 10. I know there where a lot of privacy concerns.. Is there a program to deal with these concerns? I remember there being one that deleted or blocked certain things but cant find it anymore. 

[Aytex]

Just turn them all off on control panel

[_ASSASSIN_]

Just turn them all off on control panel

yeah that really doesn't do anything

 

@OP you can just search up this stuff, there are a lot of guides on reddit and such that tell a couple things on what security holes there are and how to fix em

[Cvdasfg]

yeah that really doesn't do anything

 

@OP you can just search up this stuff, there are a lot of guides on reddit and such that tell a couple things on what security holes there are and how to fix em

Does donotspy10 fix everything? 

 

http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/secure-install-windows-10.html

[_ASSASSIN_]

Does donotspy10 fix everything? 

 

http://thehackernews.com/2015/08/secure-install-windows-10.html

I haven't been following this whole ordeal this closely to know all 37 vulnerabilities, but that's a start I guess.

[Kiyuubi]

You cannot really do much unless you own the Enterprise version.  You can "disable" things in the others, but it will still collect your data.  I still don't trust Microsoft with the Enterprise version.

 

That being said, you can at least try..

 

A user on these forums created a script that does a bit for you, called mPurge.  I haven't personally used it, but I did read the source.  Basically it uninstalls OneDrive, blocks Microsoft data collection in hosts file, disables Customer Experience Improvement Pgoram, and edits the registry a bit.

 

On top of that I would use PeerBlock with the Spyware, Education, Advertising, and Microsoft lists.  It will block any connection in those IP ranges.  TinyWall is neat too.  It is a front-end for the Windows Firewall, and will block any connections from programs, services, etc, that isn't whitelisted.

 

These things can break things, so you will need to tinker with them.  There are a few other things I believe, but I cannot remember them. 

 

Your best bet is to go Linux, as even though you are taking measures for your privacy on Windows, it is still proprietary software and you have no way of knowing for sure that it is actually working.

[TheKDub]

I just upgraded to windows 10. I know there where a lot of privacy concerns.. Is there a program to deal with these concerns? I remember there being one that deleted or blocked certain things but cant find it anymore. 

 

Might wanna switch back while you can, as of right now, we're not sure if all the spying can be stopped.

[Albatross]

The only method I know of outside of programs (that are risky) is manually turning off the ones available in settings (core settings) as well as going into the registry and changing the telemetry etc etc. The instructions I followed:
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10

 

Beyond that there could be far more that cannot be stopped, or hasn't been discovered yet. Microsoft claims they can't stop their own OS from spying on you, so don't hope for them to offer a solution. 

[Cvdasfg]

Might wanna switch back while you can, as of right now, we're not sure if all the spying can be stopped.

Under the impression that a recent windows 7 update makes it basically the same privacy wise as windows 10

[Kiyuubi]

Under the impression that a recent windows 7 update makes it basically the same privacy wise as windows 10

Any Windows version post PRISM will spy on you, but yes, Windows 7 and 8/8.1 did receive "Telemetry" updates.

[Cvdasfg]

Any Windows version post PRISM will spy on you, but yes, Windows 7 and 8/8.1 did receive "Telemetry" updates.

Yeah so wouldnt it not make a difference weather im on 7 or 10?

[TheKDub]

Under the impression that a recent windows 7 update makes it basically the same privacy wise as windows 10

 

You could just do what I've been doing and manually install updates, just go through and check each one's description to see if it's got anything to do with telemetry, windows 10, etc...

[Scottonpc]

http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

 

This shows you all the settings - around 50 in categories that are easy to understand. Click a setting to discover what it does, then choose whether to disable it, or leave it turned on. Once you have finished, click the Action tab at the top, then choose one of the 'Apply...' options (see screenshot).

 

[SpaceNugget]

Telemetry data is anonymous. Its nothing to be scared of. Lots of people who don't understand what telemetry means are doing a bunch of fear mongering but i suggest you just go look up how it works if you are curious.

[Nexxus]

I'd not be concerned as the poster above me said since still nome of their claims have been proven.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Under the impression that a recent windows 7 update makes it basically the same privacy wise as windows 10

 

Windows 7 SP1 was ok and 8.1 too.  By the looks of it, the telemetry and data gethering thing only really got out of control when Nadella replaced Ballmer. 

 

If Linux is not an option, IMO your best bet is to install Win7 SP1 or Win8.1 from an early DVD or download the ISO and run a hash check to compare it with the known checksums.  Once the installation is done, just turn off all updates.

 

And before anyone says that's dangerous, consider this :

- without updates : There is a chance that your unprotected PC is compromised by hackers

- with updates : Microsoft can gather data on you all they want.  Also, there is still nearly as much chance that your "protected" PC is compromised by hackers.

 

I know which option sounds the most appealing to me, so when I really need to use Windows it's an SP1 without any updates.

 

-----

 

Telemetry data is anonymous. Its nothing to be scared of. Lots of people who don't understand what telemetry means are doing a bunch of fear mongering but i suggest you just go look up how it works if you are curious.

 

They call it telemetry data, but I'm seeing little evidence that it's really just that.  Plenty of reports show that even if you turn all your privacy settings on and disable everything you can, your Win10 installation is still contacting Microsoft servers to transmit encrypted data the second you start typing anything into the Start Menu's search box.  There's no way that's just to tell them what CPU you have or whether you are using VLC or Jetaudio, it is to collect your search query.  That's not telemetry, that's just data gathering.

 

Also, this so-called "telemetry data" has a unique identifier.  Finding someone's identity from a bunch of data really isn't that hard, especially when you can link it all together using such an identifier.  Whether or not the data has been anonymized or not is irrelevant.

 

In 2006, AOL released a number of such anonymized search records.  It took reporters mere hours to turn the interesting ones into names. 

It didn't take them long to draw the wrong conclusions too. 

17556639 how to kill your wife

17556639 how to kill your wife

17556639 wife killer

17556639 how to kill a wife

17556639 poop

17556639 dead people

17556639 pictures of dead people

17556639 killed people

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 murder photo

17556639 steak and cheese

17556639 photo of death

17556639 photo of death

17556639 death

17556639 dead people photos

17556639 photo of dead people

17556639 www.murderdpeople.com

17556639 decapatated photos

17556639 decapatated photos

17556639 car crashes3

17556639 car crashes3

17556639 car crash photo

 

What conclusion would you draw from this search history?  Once you've made up your mind, check out the answer in the next spoiler.

 

The above search results were de-anonymized and traced back to a writer who was doing research for the TV show "Cold Case"

This story was covered in the 2014 documentary "Terms and Conditions May Apply", around the 34 minute mark

 

So much for anonymous data.

 

The example above wouldn't be relevant if it really was just telemetry data MS was collecting.  But as I explained just a bit earlier, there's too much of an indication that it's more than just that.

 

 

 

As for "fear mongering", when something is as suspect as Win10 has been all along, one should really be prepared for the worst. 

Option 1 : You are overly cautious and later find out that it wasn't that bad.  You traded in a lot of convenience for the feeling that you were somewhat more safe.  You realize it wasn't really necessary.

Option 2 : You give them everything and later find out that all your personal info is all over the web and every company has a detailed profile of you including your most personal thoughts, making you receive tons of targeted advertisements in the mail and having your insurance premiums go up because you once liked a youtube video of a car that drives fast or googled for some disease (regardless if you had it or not).

[SpaceNugget]

Windows 7 SP1 was ok and 8.1 too.  By the looks of it, the telemetry and data gethering thing only really got out of control when Nadella replaced Ballmer. 

 

If Linux is not an option, IMO your best bet is to install Win7 SP1 or Win8.1 from an early DVD or download the ISO and run a hash check to compare it with the known checksums.  Once the installation is done, just turn off all updates.

 

And before anyone says that's dangerous, consider this :

- without updates : There is a chance that your unprotected PC is compromised by hackers

- with updates : Microsoft can gather data on you all they want.  Also, there is still nearly as much chance that your "protected" PC is compromised by hackers.

 

I know which option sounds the most appealing to me, so when I really need to use Windows it's an SP1 without any updates.

 

-----

 

 

They call it telemetry data, but I'm seeing little evidence that it's really just that.  Plenty of reports show that even if you turn all your privacy settings on and disable everything you can, your Win10 installation is still contacting Microsoft servers to transmit encrypted data the second you start typing anything into the Start Menu's search box.  There's no way that's just to tell them what CPU you have or whether you are using VLC or Jetaudio, it is to collect your search query.  That's not telemetry, that's just data gathering.

 

Also, this so-called "telemetry data" has a unique identifier.  Finding someone's identity from a bunch of data really isn't that hard, especially when you can link it all together using such an identifier.  Whether or not the data has been anonymized or not is irrelevant.

 

In 2006, AOL released a number of such anonymized search records.  It took reporters mere hours to turn the interesting ones into names. 

It didn't take them long to draw the wrong conclusions too. 

17556639 how to kill your wife

17556639 how to kill your wife

17556639 wife killer

17556639 how to kill a wife

17556639 poop

17556639 dead people

17556639 pictures of dead people

17556639 killed people

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 dead pictures

17556639 murder photo

17556639 steak and cheese

17556639 photo of death

17556639 photo of death

17556639 death

17556639 dead people photos

17556639 photo of dead people

17556639 www.murderdpeople.com

17556639 decapatated photos

17556639 decapatated photos

17556639 car crashes3

17556639 car crashes3

17556639 car crash photo

 

What conclusion would you draw from this search history?  Once you've made up your mind, check out the answer in the next spoiler.

 

The above search results were de-anonymized and traced back to a writer who was doing research for the TV show "Cold Case"

This story was covered in the 2014 documentary "Terms and Conditions May Apply", around the 34 minute mark

 

So much for anonymous data.

 

The example above wouldn't be relevant if it really was just telemetry data MS was collecting.  But as I explained just a bit earlier, there's too much of an indication that it's more than just that.

 

 

 

As for "fear mongering", when something is as suspect as Win10 has been all along, one should really be prepared for the worst. 

Option 1 : You are overly cautious and later find out that it wasn't that bad.  You traded in a lot of convenience for the feeling that you were somewhat more safe.  You realize it wasn't really necessary.

Option 2 : You give them everything and later find out that all your personal info is all over the web and every company has a detailed profile of you including your most personal thoughts, making you receive tons of targeted advertisements in the mail and having your insurance premiums go up because you once liked a youtube video of a car that drives fast or googled for some disease (regardless if you had it or not).

Telemetry involves more than your settings. Telemetry data is for things like measuring the success of a function as well. When you search for something, it is valuable information to microsoft whether search results are accurate. That way they can refine search results to be more accurate and relevant. I use linux almost exclusively so you don't need to give me advice about which windows to use. Especially since you seem to not really understand the topic at hand, Your youtube activity is already all logged by google, and raising insurance rates based on watching a video would be insanely illegal. Bullshitting people like that is what I was referring to as "fear mongering."

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Telemetry involves more than your settings. Telemetry data is for things like measuring the success of a function as well. When you search for something, it is valuable information to microsoft whether search results are accurate. That way they can refine search results to be more accurate and relevant. I use linux almost exclusively so you don't need to give me advice about which windows to use. Especially since you seem to not really understand the topic at hand, Your youtube activity is already all logged by google, and raising insurance rates based on watching a video would be insanely illegal. Bullshitting people like that is what I was referring to as "fear mongering."

I don't recall telling you which OS to use, the first bit of my post was a direct reply to Cvdasfg's comment on Win7 being as insecure as Win10.

Not knowing the topic at hand eh? Apparently everyone's a comedian tonight.

Sure, some of the telemetry data may be exactly what you described. However if it really only consisted of such innocent data, MS would have hurried to disclose what exactly is being transmitted the second people started voicing their concerns. But no, they chose to be vague and to this date haven't given any demonstration to show what data is being transmitted or how it is actually being used. All we get is "ooh, but it's just for improving the service, trust us". That alone should raise plenty of red flags.

But hey, by all means keep telling yourself that none of it is real and everything will be alright. Keep believing that companies will give away billions of dollars worth of products without there being a really nasty catch.

Your Youtube activity is only logged by Google if you allow for that to happen. But going dark there involves regularly disposed VMs and VPN and using NO Youtube account, which is way too much work and inconvenience for most regular users. So I won't elaborate.

Raising insurance rates based on liking a video was an extreme example of what could be possible, but seeing as you consider it bullshit I'm going to point out that it's not that far-fetched really.

In several countries they are already calculating rates using personal information such as your occupation and family situation. If they could use your browsing history to show that you like speed or that you like to work on cars yourself despite not being a qualified mechanic, they could argue that you are a higher risk and factor that in.

It's no different from insurance companies turning people down for health/life insurance because they are overweight or because someone else in their family has some disease.

There's nothing "insanely illegal" about using such private information either if the user gives his consent (no need for a signature, just click "I agree" to an EULA or ToS that 99+% of people never read to begin with).

[SpaceNugget]

I don't recall telling you which OS to use, the first bit of my post was a direct reply to Cvdasfg's comment on Win7 being as insecure as Win10.

Not knowing the topic at hand eh? Apparently everyone's a comedian tonight.

Sure, some of the telemetry data may be exactly what you described. However if it really only consisted of such innocent data, MS would have hurried to disclose what exactly is being transmitted the second people started voicing their concerns. But no, they chose to be vague and to this date haven't given any demonstration to show what data is being transmitted or how it is actually being used. All we get is "ooh, but it's just for improving the service, trust us". That alone should raise plenty of red flags.

But hey, by all means keep telling yourself that none of it is real and everything will be alright. Keep believing that companies will give away billions of dollars worth of products without there being a really nasty catch.

Your Youtube activity is only logged by Google if you allow for that to happen. But going dark there involves regularly disposed VMs and VPN and using NO Youtube account, which is way too much work and inconvenience for most regular users. So I won't elaborate.

Raising insurance rates based on liking a video was an extreme example of what could be possible, but seeing as you consider it bullshit I'm going to point out that it's not that far-fetched really.

In several countries they are already calculating rates using personal information such as your occupation and family situation. If they could use your browsing history to show that you like speed or that you like to work on cars yourself despite not being a qualified mechanic, they could argue that you are a higher risk and factor that in.

It's no different from insurance companies turning people down for health/life insurance because they are overweight or because someone else in their family has some disease.

There's nothing "insanely illegal" about using such private information either if the user gives his consent (no need for a signature, just click "I agree" to an EULA or ToS that 99+% of people never read to begin with).

It is extremely different from life insurance turning you down over a disease. Saying it could be possible is a nice way of admitting that its not right now. which is fear-mongering bullshit.

Charging someone more for a service based on their internet browsing history is laughable and you know it. And did the fact that telemetry is anonymous conveniently slip your mind for a minute? unless they blackmailed you personally under the table you could sue the pants off them for breaking their privacy contract. and what exactly is being given away?