Up about ...? Myself for instance refuses to accept the lack of transparency about what data actually is collected. The privacy statement is more than vague. Then the aggressively forced behavior of several system components is inacceptable. Although i can at least understand what MS intended with the new Update strategy, it's interesting to notice that Cortana after disabling all settings options still lurks in background and regularly connects to MS (first search in Start Menu). Removing the packages stops this. Yeah, sure ... "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" only works as long as no-one decides otherwise. As the NSA scandal perfectly proves; a an already existing survailance system (equal how it was meant to be in the beginning) can easily be corrupted and misused. For the rest of the mentioned clichés applies; my private data still strictly belong to me and to me ONLY!
Google earned over 19 billion dollars through advertising and tracking, selling out it's user base for data mining. Microsoft figure's if Google can do they can too. It's not so much telemetry that they may use for improvement, but selling you out to third parties and advertising that should be more transparent from all corporate that want to know you... Like that bank advert we see that say's What's in your wallet, but rather Who's in your wallet?
The majority of people's lack-of caring about privacy is what allows Windows 10 to be the mess it is today, 7 and 8.1 to also have the same fate, backdoors on basically all modern-day computers, mandatory reporting of new hardware/software in the UK to decide if a backdoor is needed, and numerous other issues. The people who don't know any better I sort of have sympathy for, but the others who flat-out don't care or even make excuses for it bug me. People that care about privacy are not (always) interested in illegal activity. One concern I have is for the future. What you might be looking up or doing today could easily be made illegal and/or used against you later on. What will you do then? And really, companies don't need to know what I'm doing anyway. Maybe I click on an image in a forum; I don't need AOL, Microsoft, and 20 other nonsense companies knowing I did that and then mucking up my bandwidth by trying to throw "targeted" ads at me based on this or building up a profile on me.
Yes if you want to stop approximately 2/3's and the rest gets out, no program made is going to stop all that you want. See the way I see it is when MS layed off all their OS checkers (Thousands), they started Windows Insider Program and what you call Spyware Program for more data they desire, so they do not have to pay for it. Lot of people making big money pushing this spyware theme, so let's take this OS apart so some of it works and stop MS from getting into my bank account . OK lets say OS cost $200.00 for average joe, then he gets one of these so called Kill the Spying Programs, runs it, after that turning off, disabling, and uninstalling, that's about $120.00 worth of software, so now we have a operating system worth about $80.00, and it really does not do what it's supposed to because of all the turning off, disabling, and uninstalling you did and they still know what size bra granny wears, do you have any ideal how hard MS is laughing at us, just my 2 cent
That's why I still didn't understand why guy's like you using Beta OS'es etc., for to play with, and done that, starting all times to bash the developer about! Nobody, who's using Windows 10, and that includes ALL versions, Build's etc., could tell he/she didn't know about those spying and other bad fact's because MS has made that fact publicly available for all users! Seems also to be, that the majority of private (and corporate) Software User's didn't really realize, that they never own those software (if they didn't developed it on their own), doesn't matter they got it for free or even paid for it! Only thing everybody is getting is a (not permanent) License for to use that Software, but allowed to alter and/or change codes of it for their personal use, etc., etc.! If MS (as example) would be going straight to their Rules, what they allow users could do with that MS Property, and what they deny, most users are so called 'Black Sheep'! I really have nothing against to have user's their systems secure and clean, just those permanent 'hick hack' about something they're using for free and even going that far to search for any and even the smallest minus, I would never understand. But, for objective people, reading forums like MDL, such complainant's are never understandable, to tell very friendly. And just to mention: Did you think that your (German) Government didn't has most of your personal and hidden data? Just read the News like Spiegel, Frankfurter and many other of the well-established News providers, and you'll get a lot infos about the non-existing private data! And that applies to all countries around the world! Just to come into the "Lime Light", you just need to be SOMEBODY! Are you such SOMEBODY?
The only possible and a really secure way to use a computer is without ANY Network Connection, be it the Internet or whatsoever! To use any Network Connection with a computer, open the door for many uncontrollable activities, started from someone else or even from the owner itself! And NOBODY would know, what the future would be all about! We all simply living without to know what the future, even the nearest, would be all about! That's Life!
Considering there have already been innumerable threads on this topic, this innumerable+1 thread isn’t doing so badly. And it’s not as if any agreement is even remotely likely. Hence the usual exchange of “niceties”. But to contribute something to the topic, just in case it dries out (!!!) I point out that, while fully respecting people’s right to privacy and would be happier to have it myself, in our “democratic” society, attempts to achieve it are more likely to lead to the opposite result. Namely attract the attention of the surveilling authorities in the presumption that if your trying to hide, you’ve got something to hide. And if they target you, you can’t stop them on this side of utopia.
@pisthai SORRY!!! Definitely my fault ... totaly forgot why i stopped responding to you. Still pretending to be a Saint, we know better, don't we.
As I see it, and said above, you’re first wasting your time to attract them to waste their time on you. And you get them to spy on you, which you’re trying to avoid, when they otherwise wouldn’t. And your “compensation” for wasting your time and getting them to spy on you, is that they’re wasting their time. Hmm… Different points of view, but I don’t think I’d like a deal like that.
General data harvesting goes on from various entities regardless of who you are, "interesting" or not. But I imagine those that stand out as "more interesting" for whatever reason (whatever is determined to be illegal activity, political/high-rank standing, or just a random civilian taking interest in privacy for reasons yet determined) have more targeted data collection. For random civilians, trying to protect your privacy brings the assumption that you have "something to hide" (which we all do regardless of those who incorrectly feign otherwise, but few go out of their way to actually protect it). Could be simple stuff like banking, social media, gaming, or some other innocent task, or it could be something more. So the minority of people that do "try to hide" get targeted for more spying on the assumption that "if you really weren't doing anything "nefarious", you'd allow us to see". Now, if more people actually cared to do simple tasks of "trying to hide", then mass-surveillance would be much harder to pull off, and thus, resources could be put towards more meaningful things, at least I'd like to imagine. Going through the trouble of subpoenaing VPN logs from a company based in another country just to find out majority of users are browsing Facebook or something equally meaningless is a waste of resources and time. I don't really consider privacy a waste of my time. I have blinds in my windows, lock my door when I'm not out, and don't go around with a loudspeaker broadcasting the details of my day because people don't need to know that stuff. What I do is my own business, and I don't want people I don't know spectating. Why should what I do on a computer or online be any different? The only real difference in this case is that I actively have to protect my privacy on a computer and online from a countless number of entities, which I really shouldn't have to be doing. But this is only the case currently because the majority of people just accept it. Hell, some people even welcome the idea by bugging themselves with something like Amazon's Echo. "Lets set-up an internet-connected microphone in a central location or all throughout my house just for some cool gimmicks!" It'd be more laughable if majority of people weren't doing something like this...
well put, @katzenfreund; i think you are wise. but suspicious as ever i had a look at the link you provided. they cheerfully tell me there that they collect user data too.. it left me wondering which is worse, m$ collecting data or these guys?
At first glance, I couldn't see the reference to their data collection. But I'm pretty sure that whatever this tool collects, other similar ones also do, whether they tell you about it or not. This applies particularly to free ones that have to pay for themselves somehow.