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Title: Windows 10: Here are the privacy issues you should know about
Source:
TheNextWeb
URL Source: http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/
Published: Jul 29, 2015
Author: Mic Wright
Post Date: 2015-07-29 10:26:44 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1526
Comments: 8
Windows 10 has just arrived and there’s a new Privacy Policy and Service Agreement from Microsoft coming swiftly in its wake. The new policies take effect on 1 August and there are a few unsettling things nestling in there that you should be thinking about if you’re using the company’s services and software. The Privacy Statement and Services Agreements combined come to 45 pages. Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez wrote that they are “straightforward terms and polices that people can clearly understand.” The reality is, you’re probably not going to read them. So I did… And, like so many other companies, Microsoft has grabbed some very broad powers to collect things you do, say and create while using its software. Your data won’t be staying on your computer, that much is for sure. Sign into Windows with your Microsoft account and the operating system immediately syncs settings and data to the company’s servers. That includes your browser history, favorites and the websites you currently have open as well as saved app, website and mobile hotspot passwords and Wi-Fi network names and passwords. You can deactivate that by hopping into settings, but I’d argue that it should be opt-in rather than on by default. Many users won’t get round to turning it off, even though they would probably want to. Turn on Cortana, the virtual assistant, and you’re also turning on a whole host of data sharing: To enable Cortana to provide personalized experiences and relevant suggestions, Microsoft collects and uses various types of data, such as your device location, data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text messages, who you call, your contacts and how often you interact with them on your device. Cortana also learns about you by collecting data about how you use your device and other Microsoft services, such as your music, alarm settings, whether the lock screen is on, what you view and purchase, your browse and Bing search history, and more.” Lots of things can live in those two words “and more.” Also note that because Cortana analyzes speech data, Microsoft collects “your voice input, as well as your name and nickname, your recent calendar events and the names of people in your appointments, and information about your contacts including names and nicknames.” Realistically, Cortana can’t work in the semi-magical way it does without being able to gobble up all that information. But it’s worth being aware of just how wide-ranging its access to your and your friends’/contacts’ data is. The updated terms also state that Microsoft will collect information “from you and your devices, including for example ‘app use data for apps that run on Windows’ and ‘data about the networks you connect to.'” Windows 10 generates a unique advertising ID for each user on each device. That can be used by developers and ad networks to profile you. Again, you can turn this off in settings, but you need to know where to look: Not necessarily a bad thing but something you should be aware of. When device encryption is turned on, Windows 10 automatically encrypts the drive its installed on and generates a BitLocker recovery key. That’s backed up to your OneDrive account. This is the part you should be most concerned about: Microsoft’s new privacy policy assigns is very loose when it comes to when it will or won’t access and disclose your personal data: We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to protect our customers or enforce the terms governing the use of the services. I’m not suggesting Microsoft and its lawyers are alone in making provision for such sweeping power over your data, but we should all be very careful about relying on the “good faith” of corporations. I’m not even sure such a thing exists. ➤ Privacy Statement | Services Agreement [Microsoft] h/t to EDRI for flagging up a number of these issues. Read more about Microsoft’s new stuff: Review: Windows 10 reimagines the OS with flexible and functional designData syncing by default
Cortana is a sexy spy in the machine
Whatever happens, Microsoft knows what you’re doing…
Advertisers will know exactly who you are
Your encryption key is backed up to OneDrive
Microsoft can disclose your data when it feels like it
7 reasons you should make Microsoft Edge your default browser, and one reason you probably won’t
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
I have windows Pro 7. Did you guys get the Windows 10 "try me for free" tag?
I've got XP, it works fine and no "try me free" offers. This new version seems like you're giving them free reign to access anything they like. In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much I really liked XP. Stable and fast. What else can you ask for? In fact I jumped from XP to Windows 7 Pro and skipped the others because they were terrible.
Mint 17.2: The year's best Linux desktop Excerpt:
I personally have been steadily migrating away from computers, just as years ago I migrated away from television, and then radio. Time was, when I was a kid, I HAD to have TV. I couldn't imagine life without TV, my favorite shows, Saturday morning cartoons, etc. Then I went away to college, didn't have a TV (couldn't), and fell out of the habit. I never went back to it. The only reason there's a TV in my house is for the wife and kid. They watch it. I never do. Time was, after that, that radio became my thing. I HAD to have the radio on, at home, and in the car. Music, first, but then I discovered Rush Limbaugh and the first generation of his followers: G Gordon Liddy and the like. I had to listen to them. But, with less time in the car, I listened less. And as the country evolved and the politics of the Republicans became more and more corrupt, I lost interest in hearing professional bloviators root on a bunch of liars. Also, the music changed and became less interesting. So I fell away from listening to the radio. Now, I mostly drive in silence, or I play a CD. Then came the computer, and especially e-mail and blogging and searches! Woo hoo! I reveled in the constant communication...for awhile. I very much enjoyed the "at-your-fingertips" knowledge available, and used it well. But with time, the bloom came off those roses. Free Republic went from being a dynamic place for discussion into, well, what it is...which ain't much. Also, some of the "data" found to research things proved to be quite wrong. The old Encyclopediae Britannica or World Books may have also contained inaccuracies, but they were better written and researched. In the end, I've drifted down to this place, where I find my posts on the few topics on which I post to generate an inordinate amount of fire, ferocity and angry pushback. And honestly, who needs that? I'm still here, so I haven't cut the link completely, but besides this and my yahoo e-mail account - which is 95% Spam anyway - my connectivity with the net outside of work has become very tenuous. I could just let it go. I never did enjoy having a cell phone. And now that the phones have become expensive, intrusive and too difficult to operate, the only reason I have one at all is because work provides one, and I only ever carry it when I have to travel. I don't even know the number to be able to give it to people. There's barely a reason I need to interact with all of these electronics, which are essentially just like TV was when I was a kid: mind candy, a time sump. Now that Microsoft has decided that they will write themselves a contract that lets them intrude into my life full time, anything I type on my own machine, it's a very good reason to let the computers, already old, go obsolete and never replace them. The day will come when I have no computer at all, and when people who really want to communicate with me will see me face to face, or call me on the phone, or write me a letter. Few will. And that will be fine.
I'm with you. Some movies are worth watching, but if they are worth watching, then they should be watched without commercial interruption.
Well this is more for listening at home (not driving in a car), There's a bazillion more stations to listen to over the Internet, including international stations. So I'm sure you'll find something that interests you besides whatever your local stations offer on traditional radio.
I just jumped straight to Windows 7 Ultimate I still have XP on one machine - for fallbask reasons - and
#2. To: Justified, TooConservative, Chuck_Wagon, CZ82, SOSO, Willie Green, hondo68 (#1)
Did you guys get the Windows 10 "try me for free" tag?
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#3. To: Deckard (#2)
#4. To: Justified (#3)
I really liked XP. Stable and fast. What else can you ask for?
I currently have nine desktops running in my office. They're running Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10 Build 10240, OS X Yosemite, OS X El Capitan beta, Ubuntu 15.04, Chrome OS, Fedora 22, and Linux Mint 17.2. Which one do I use on my main production desktop?
It's not that much of a contest. Even though I run many different desktops, Linux Mint has been my favorite for years now. This latest long-term-support release, which will be supported until 2019, is the best yet.
#5. To: Deckard (#0)
#6. To: Vicomte13 (#5)
#7. To: Vicomte13 (#5)
I lost interest in hearing professional bloviators root on a bunch of liars. Also, the music changed and became less interesting. So I fell away from listening to the radio. Now, I mostly drive in silence, or I play a CD.
but you might be interested in something like this:Grace Digital Wi-Fi Music Player with 3.5-Inch Color Display
#8. To: Justified (#3)
I jumped from XP to Windows 7 Pro and skipped the others...
and skipped all of the other 'Sevens'.
Love it. (As much as you can possibly use
the word 'Love' in regards to a Microsoft product.)
I have it installed on several machines - and it annoys
me less than any other Microsoft OS ever has.
I've got the Linux machines - for security, and just because I want to...
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