MJ, we live in a time where people post their drama and most intimate secrets on Facebook. Sadly the average consumer of electronics and services doesn't worry about privacy.
@Edd: I know that's true. However, I believe that people who post on Facebook are aware of this, and are willing to accept that particular risk. However: They may not be aware that their OS may be compromising their personal data. And as I have said before; It's not about Microsoft doing it purposely. It's about them inadvertently enabling an unscrupulous person or persons to compromise your machine. And that's already happened. :MJ
Do you? If not then I'd like you to send me your secrets, your email, accounts and passwords, your IP address, wi-fi info., etc.. Just upload the contents of your PC here would be great; http://UYRlujyfr5lvgclhbb.com/ I'll take care of it all, and I'll even go a step further, I won't sell any your info. to any 3rd parties.... but M$ will.... After all, if you have nothing to hide, then you have no objection to sending it to me along with Microsoft?
@GTK48: We don't really know. At some point, they might get paid to do that kind of policing. Or, they might offer an API as part of the Windows SDK that allows them to check a HWID against a list of HWIDS. If they have a list of HWIDS, software developers can use the list as part of a licensing strategy that is enforced at the OS level. There's a lot of potential here. :MJ
I wasn't talking to you, I was offering MJ an opinion. Your response is full of false equivalencies and assumptions about MY habits. I made a general statement on a general apathy towards privacy. None of this had anything to do with you so I fail to see how your antagonism towards my statement was even relevant.
TinyWall seems to be good for blocking the telemetry, however it appears that it blocks even whitelisted apps if the application is unresponsive or not loaded yet, like slightly after boot.
@Dolorious Edd: I've been watching your posts. You have played "the Devil's advocate" in a number of your posts. And I respect that. You've brought up a number of good points in a fashion that allowed them to be sensibly discussed. As have many others here. I believe that You, Myself and many others want the same thing: A sensible way to use an OS without being compromised on a personal level. And a choice as to what data is collected. Of course, we realize that some data collection is benign, some of us take risks to some extent and allow personal data (pictures, identifying statements, etc) on social media. But that is a choice that is consciously made. With choice being the key word. I have a problem with having the choice aspect removed, and having personal information shared against my will. To Me, that's no different than theft. And that's what I'm against. The only agenda that I have here is to make sure that we're all safe. If there's risk, then let's find it, discuss it and assess the potential damage associated with that risk. I have said it before. I'll say it again. Knowledge is power. And being safe is about understanding the risks. :MJ
I guess I'm jaded with the years of trying to help end users who refuse to even try developing good computer use/browsing habits. When it comes down to it I just happen to feel that it is the end user's responsibility to educate and protect themselves. We're talking about the people who don't backup, don't use antivirus, download every game, program or app, play flash games, etc. These people will never even try to comprehend what you are warning against and will provide MS with plenty of mindless consumers. Last virus I got was from using Bing to search in IE, very first result had a malicious script and IE didn't catch it, last time I used IE for anything other than accessing anything on Microsoft's site such as outlook, xbox or technet. FYI, the biggest problem I have with Windows 10 is the telemetry that you can't turn off, however I firmly believe that they have been doing this since XP RTM and are now growing a little more brazen about it. I really do not believe that their philosophy or practices have changed much, just the volume of information because the new features inherently require more date sharing. Which is why I turned Cortana off, made the appropriate privacy changes that I am "allowed" to make and follow conversations like this. I find it odd however that some (not you) take it to the level of personal insults if they disagree or do not understand the point a person has made. Their lack of comprehension is not grounds for starting a flame war.
@Edd: And once again, we agree. I got my first virus a few months ago (ransomware) which I managed to stop, but still it caused some damage. If I hadn't made a backup, I would have lost a lot of important data. And this happened because of a Microsoft Silverlight exploit which made its way into my machine through Netflix. Nothing is safe. We have to be on our guard 24/7. As far as flame wars go, I watched that happen a few times. I've been insulted in other threads. I've even been called a hypocrite. And when I started this thread, it was over in serious discussion. It was treated with respect, so, I continued. ancestor(v) pinned it here and took an interest. I'm grateful for that, because We've had incredibly positive discussion here. It's amazing what can be accomplished with a cool head. I can't stress that enough. We are not adversaries (metaphorically speaking) We want the same things.How can strong emotion and drama do anything but work against the common goal? That's how I see it. And I'm only conducting myself as I would in real life. Those who know Me personally know this to be true. :MJ
Fine... YES Dolorous Edd, this is a public discussion, and this is a public forum of which I also am a member. I have every right to my opinion and point of view just as you do, period. I started by asking you a question related to your post... Then I made a valid point that I CHOSE to point out in this discussion for everyone to read and think about. Not to 'antagonize' you as you claim. On the similar line of Glenn Greenwald: Why privacy matters; h**ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcSlowAhvUk which I'm sure you've seen post on several other threads. So who exactly is starting a flame war here? I believe it is you my dear, with your crass ideological statements. Maybe you are just playing devils advocate as Michaela pointed out, but anyone and everyone still has the right to comment here on this topic. I made no assumptions about your 'habits'. Misconceptions and misunderstandings always occur in text...that is a perilous fact of any text forum, and shouldn't be taken personally. But obviously I've touched a nerve with my post..?! Are we not in agreement with the perils of apathy towards privacy?
MysTikAL3, I think you are a little defensive for no reason. You are clearing over-reacting to a comment that was not even remotely or directly intended to be an insult or jab at you. Passion is great with causes, as long as it doesn't blind or inhibit the thought process of those who are part of the cause. All that will do is hurt the cause.
I know what you mean, but on the contrary, I am simply pointing out that he should not be shutting down posts with responses such as this... There have been many such posts across the forum... It isn't the first, so I chose to point out this one...It won't be brought up again.
We must all remember that we are -not- adversaries here. In one form or another, we all want the same thing; We want to be able to use our computers in a safe fashion, and not worry about our privacy being compromised. Many of us are computer professionals. Our word is power. People trust us to provide them with good advice. And good advice comes from a position of knowledge. Cool heads will -always- prevail. @EFA11: Thank you. :MJ
Year after year, Richard Stallman's predictions have all come true. The man definitely deserves a lot of respect for what he has done.
Yeah,I'll be sure to thank him from my feature-complete (and on-par with commercial offerings) GNU .. and not the cop out with the Linux kernel,with motherbleeping Hurd...
Am I a mod now? I haven't shut down anyone's post. I responded to you when you responded directly to my post in an antagonistic fashion. Seems to me like you were trying to shutdown my post while deriding my opinion. FYI, my opinion on end user responsibility is in no way counter to your opinions on Microsoft's responsibility. An objective person can see that the two should go hand in hand. One reason we are where we are today is because MS believes it needs to force feed security updates to irresponsible users, the fact that they can't pic and choose means we all get treated equally when it comes to updates. It's not that much of a reach for them to extend this to telemetry, which they have done, which we can't opt out of. That said, the impetus for this was the irresponsible computer user, the proof is in the fact that Linux doesn't force feed you anything, why? Because for the most part Linux users are savvy and responsible. I challenge you to find fault with that. Or better yet, calm down and hold a conversation. Debate is encouraged when all participants can be respectful.
In other news - I've gone and installed Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon I've been Windows exclusive since Windows 98 right through to Windows 8.1, so I know absolutely nothing about Linux and how to use it. In the last 3 days I've managed to set up a PIA VPN, SABnzbd+, uTorrent and a bunch of tweaks and programs without any help. I joined a Linux forums in case I got into trouble and to educate myself. But so far its been really surprising just how easy and straightforward its been. I'm actually in Linux now as I type this. I'm still undecided about Windows 10. I'm sure as an OS its great, but Microsofts latest move to record everything I do on my PC really has forced my hand to try out an alternative. And thus far, I'm really enjoying Linux. For now I'm going to stick with Linux as my full time OS so I can completely evaluate if its right for me. Maybe IF people can completely kill off Microsofts spying capabilities in Windows 10 I'll install it and use it. If not, I may just stick with Linux for good. Anyway I encourage anyone to give Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon a try. Just download the ISO, make a bootable USB and plug it in. You don't even have to install it as it will run straight off the USB so you can fully check it out before installing it. I'm just so damn glad I gave it a try. If you've never tried Linux, try Mint, I think you will be surprised.