Windows 10 Privacy Concerns

[perrinoia]

I've found yet another article bitching about Windows 10 data mining practices, and thought I'd jump in and explain why I'm still not concerned, at all...

The following is a list of statistics Microsoft released to the press to brag about how rapidly Windows 10 is being adopted by users.

• People have spent over 11 billion hours on Windows 10 in December alone.
• Over 44.5 billion minutes spent in Microsoft Edge across Windows 10 devices in just the last month.
• Over 2.5 billion questions asked of Cortana since launch.
• Around 30% more Bing search queries per Windows 10 device vs. prior versions of Windows.
• Over 82 billion photos viewed within the Windows 10 Photo app.
• Gaming continues to grow on Windows 10 – in 2015, gamers spent over 4 billion hours playing PC games on Windows 10.
• Gamers have streamed more than 6.6 million hours of Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs.

Paranoid bloggers eyebrows jumped so high, their berets fell off. They're all like, "Bill Gates knows that I asked Cortana for nude pics of herself after watching the movie Her!"



I'm going to explain how each of those statistics can be acquired without compromising your privacy.

Over 44.5 billion minutes spent in Microsoft Edge:
Most browsers log timestamps for actions, such as opening and closing windows or tabs, how long it takes to load a page, etc... These logs are stored locally, and then statistics are compiled and uploaded to Microsoft, such as how many minutes you've had Microsoft Edge open on your screen, total. Does that stat include your username? Maybe... If you don't want Microsoft to know how long you had edge open, use Chrome, or Safari, or a different operating system all together... I guarantee the other browsers and operating systems collect similar stats, so if you're that upset about it, move to an Amish village and stop using the internet.

Over 2.5 billion questions asked of Cortana since launch.
Every time you ask Cortana anything, your whole search is transmitted to the internet and logged on some server... Same if you ask any other search engine. They all keep statistics such as frequently asked questions, and most likely answers, so they can provide quicker and more accurate responses in the future. If you don't like it, move to an Amish village and stop using the internet.

Around 30% more Bing search queries per Windows 10 device vs. prior versions of Windows.
No shit, it's the default search engine, and people are fucking lazy. The first thing I did after installing Windows 10 on each of my computers is accidentally search bing for Chrome. Before installing Chrome, I changed internet explorer's default search engine to Google, default maps accelerator to Google Maps, etc... Even though I had no intention of using IE/Edge after installing Chrome and making it my default browser, I understood that if I accidentally launched it, I didn't want to deal with Bing or Bing maps. But there's 30% more people who launched edge and decided to give it a chance, or don't even realize the difference between Google and Bing, than there were before... That's a statistic I can believe, considering how fast this OS is being adopted.

Over 82 billion photos viewed within the Windows 10 Photo app.
Again, it's the default app, and it's not horrible, so obviously people are going to use it. I haven't even bothered to research alternatives, because it hasn't shit a brick at me regarding any image file types, yet.

Gaming continues to grow on Windows 10 – in 2015, gamers spent over 4 billion hours playing PC games on Windows 10.
Oh noes, Microsoft knows how unproductive I am! So what? When I had Windows XP, I downloaded xfire and publically shared my gaming stats with the world.

Gamers have streamed more than 6.6 million hours of Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs.
Multiply my explanation for Edge usage to my explanation for Gaming on Windows 10, and the result is still zero fucks given. I don't even own an xBox.

Seriously, if any of these stats concern you, go build a fucking barn. You can even keep your neck beard!

[DaRk]

I have my tin foil hat ready. Do you? I have very little complaints about W10 so far. Been impressed. Edge is definitely an improvement over IE, though I still use Chrome or Firefox over it for obvious reasons.

Also, too bad no one has figured how to get Tribes to run on a Linux kernel yet. I would be running it on my Ubuntu partition if so.

[KILROY]

Perr, you pretty much touched the basics here. Data collection has been ongoing for decades since the invention of the internet. You think Microsoft is collecting data? My company collects the data from them and the big companies and everyone around the World and uses it to some advantage. Anything connected via a hard line or wirelessly that has to go through my companies equipment for a backbone to the internet gets it's data collected. Those statistics are used for a numerous of things. Nothing is concealed online. Even a military satellite connection can be monitored, even if scrambled. The Skynet 5d that the British are using can even be monitored with it's coding programs for it's scrambling. Your providers have been collecting their own data with your usage for many years, and my company collects that data for it's own usage. Even your cell phones are monitored. Anything that uses a hard line or wireless signal is monitored, period. This goes back to the days of the telegram and it's monitoring. If you don't want this monitoring, go back to mailing letters for communication.

[{LS}RePublic]

If you have not disabled Windows 7 updates by now, you might as well be running windows 10.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2978239/ ... storm.html

China already tracks its citizens; planning to rate people and family's based on their internet history.... anything bad said about the CCP (Chinese Communist party) can prevent you getting a job ect. You cant access Facebook, google or YouTube unless you use a VPN over there, if caught they can be fined or even jailed to be re-educated. Will cause much dishonor in family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Websites_ ... land_China


North Korea's Red Star OS runs on Linux:
Illegal media(typically western media) is usually passed person-to-person in North Korea using USB sticks and microSD cards, making it hard for the government to track where they come from.
Red Star tackles this by tagging, or watermarking, every document or media file on a computer or on any USB stick connected to it. That means that all files can be traced.
Article here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/d ... esearchers


Also Microsoft is implementing malicious techniques to force users to upgrade to Windows 10 as this article explains here.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2993381/ ... users.html
A YouTube tech blog channel 'The Tek' also had the same issue when their computer was force upgraded to Windows 10 after coming back from overseas.

So in short Intrusive privacy practices can definitely limit free speech and choice, not to mention be used against individuals (blackmail) who may want change politically.
That and there's a fat CEO somewhere turning all you're data into money to fuel his luxury yacht.
Its more about that yacht than anything else.

[KILROY]

Microsoft is putting themselves in a bind with "Forcing" or making the Windows 10 download mandatory or making it a hidden download into your system. The OS you are currently running is a paid "licensed" OS that you registered with the primary company. That company is Microsoft if you are running a Windows program. And if you read the licensing agreement you opted for when you registered it, they are already violating these legal agreements. By them loading an OS on your computer "without" your consent violates many legal laws with the FCC and privacy laws, and will put Microsoft in some major fines, lawsuits, and other repercussions. It's just a matter of time until someone files a grievance with the FCC or another Federal Court, and others follow, and they start to look into this issue, or someone actually hires an attorney practicing Federal Communication Laws and sues Microsoft for violating these rights. If and when this happens, Microsoft will see themselves under some very strict guidelines by the FCC, and they will be monitored for some time in their practices. I know, my company is already monitoring them, per request by the FCC, and keeping track and making logs of their actions for any future repercussions.

[perrinoia]

I'm sorry, but I don't buy that shit...

I don't believe the people who say they were "forced to download windows 10" are telling the truth... Even if they truly think they are.

It's so easy to download windows 10, it's quite conceivable that someone clicked the button without realizing what they were doing...

I've upgraded 3 computers to Windows 10 from Windows 8, now...

Before, the process of upgrading required external media and product keys. Now, it's literally just a few clicks of an OK button.

First, Windows update downloads the Windows 10 downloader, which sits in your taskbar tray waiting for you to say, "WTF is that?" and then click on it. Upon clicking, it asks if you want to download Windows 10. It doesn't auto-download the whole OS and it doesn't auto-install it, either. If you agree to download it, you are placed in a queue, and a few days later, you are notified that the download is complete and you are ready to install. You must click an OK button to install, at this point... You've already consented to ownership of Windows 10, this step is merely to prevent you from losing whatever work you've got open on your desktop. So even if that question has a timeout function that automatically installs it after a few days of waiting for user input... You've already consented at this point.

BTW: Each time I installed it, I had to be logged in as an administrator... My sister left one of my computers logged into her Windows account when I received the notification that Windows 10 was ready to install. I clicked the button to install it, and it made me enter the administrator password to proceed.

So, I firmly believe that all of these people who claim to have been virtually raped my Microsoft are a bunch of fucking morons who click OK without reading the dialog boxes. They're the kinds of idiots who have 20 IE tool bars, and get frustrated because every time they install anything, their default browser, search engine, and homepage changes, without their permission.

Seriously, my grandmother is blind as a fucking bat, and I only have to clean that shit off her computer like twice a year... I guarantee the people bitching about Windows 10 creeping up in their shit have some young relative on speed dial to fix their computer.

Oh, and isn't there a "downgrade" option, in case you don't like Windows 10? I know they advertised one, but I haven't bothered looking for it yet, because I actually really like it.

Also, let's not forget that every version of Windows prior to Windows 8.1 has major security holes that Windows 10 fixes...
So if you think upgrading to Windows 10 is a security risk... Just wait and see what happens when those that know how to exploit your version of Windows acquire your IP.

Damn, Microsoft should be paying me for all this lobbying.
At least give me some app store credits, or something... I wouldn't mind upgrading to Office 365 if it were free.

[KILROY]

Actually, Microsoft has already been caught using previous versions of Windows updates as a mask to install prompts for Windows 10. If you don't know how to look up what an update is for by it's reference number, you just downloaded an install prompt for Windows 10.

I believe you Perr about Windows 10, but I think it shouldn't be pushed on you, you should be able to make a decision if you want to use it or not. Microsoft is going too far to make people use their new OS. They are now stopping support for all kinds of other software to try to "make" you switch to 10. They want to be able to shut down all the other servers they use that monitor you when using their older OS's. Having everyone using 10 allows them to use less equipment for monitoring, and less they have to pay my company for each connection to the internet for all that equipment. Where not talking hardline T connects here, were talking OC optical rings they lease from us.

As with any software exploits will be found, and Windows 10 will soon see it's own issues.

[perrinoia]

Yes, they distributed the install prompter through Windows update... It wasn't hidden or mislabeled as you suggested. I read a blog that announced it was coming, and then I looked for it, and it was there... Named exactly what they said it would be... The fact that it's got the word "Prompt" in the name implies that it's going to give the user an option and wait for a response. Which is exactly what it did...

The update was installed, but the install prompt hid from my sight until the release date. Then the Windows 10 icon appeared in the task tray, and it prompted me to download Windows 10. I clicked yes and was added to the queue.. A few days later, it prompted me again, saying the download was complete and ready for installation.. I still had to click another button to proceed.

I said it before, and I'll say it again... The people who claim they were tricked into installing Windows 10, or that it was secretly or covertly installed without their consent, are idiots who don't read dialog boxes before they click OK.

Saying they were caught is misleading, because they announced that Windows 10 would be available through Windows update.

Also, shutting down servers that support older versions of Windows is inevitable... The old business model was flawed. They sold a piece of software for a one time price, then had to support it until it was no longer feasible... Considering how easy it is to pirate software, I suspect that it becomes less and less feasible every day.

The new subscription based model makes far more sense... They're giving away the OS for free, and hoping to receive income through the app store... Office 365 requires a subscription to receive more than 1 year of updates... They used to include games for free... Now they're either ad supported or purchased through the store.

The old business model required you to replace your old software every couple of years, if you wanted continued support through updates, but the new business model suggests perpetual support. In fact the commercial does more than imply it... It out right declares that Windows 10 will still be their flagship OS when our grandchildren are in school.

It makes a hell of a lot of more sense than having to purchase a new OS ever 2-5 years.

We've purchased 7 versions of Windows in the past 20 years (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME/2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8). With prices ranging from $99-199, we've each probably spend over $1000 for something we felt we already had... No more... I downloaded and installed Windows 10 for free, and I intend to use it for the next 70 years of my life. Hopefully, I'll manage to do it without spending thousands in subscription fees, but I'm sure the day will come when I'll be able to justify/afford the expense. In the mean time, I'm still using an older version of Microsoft Office, and not buying anything through the app store.

[KILROY]

Actually your partially correct on the download option via the update. Which is why my company is monitoring Microsoft per request by the FCC. Microsoft did setup the update as you described, but also had the update(s) hidden within other updates showing to be a mandatory update. I can't go into details here, due to this still being investigated by the FCC, but it is being verified.

Yes, they are trying to make a better profit, with the statement you made, but they are also trying to eliminate other costs per my previous statement, and to do this they are trying to get everyone on board with the new OS. Microsoft has already eliminated a few OC connects that my company provides to them for usage, which saves them quite a bit in expenses.

As for the statement of Windows 10 being the flagship when our grandchildren are still in school, they announced that with previous versions and look where we are now. Everything get's improved, everything, and it wouldn't amaze me if Apple betters Microsoft in the near future, due to Microsoft pushing it's new OS on the consumer.

[perrinoia]

Approximately how much does an OC connect cost? How many copies of Windows 8 do they have to sell monthly to financially support the servers on an on going basis?

I've never heard them promise longevity of an older OS... They usually promote it as the newest and best thing on the market... With the new business model, they can theoretically deliver the promise of longevity.

As for the hidden mandatory updates, I still believe it's all based on claims from people who have auto-updates enabled, and click OK without reading the messages in dialog boxes. I frequently cleanup people's PCs who claim that malware has installed itself on their PCs, and then watch them dismiss dialog boxes without reading them, or install software without unchecking all of the "special offer" and packaged deals in the installers.

You get a few people who don't know what the fuck their doing, bitching about how their shit's all fucked up, and then you get Microsoft's competitors, or apple fanboy bloggers parroting it with a real malicious connotation, and the propaganda wagon rolls on until the FCC takes notice...

But hey... I don't have access to the data you do... Perhaps they are telling the truth, and Bill Gates is currently looking through my webcam, right now...

Just remember: