The better option would be to not use spyware as an operating system.
Do you consider any form of telemetry “spyware”?
You consider actual, literal spyware as being merely telemetry?
What are you talking about now?
I believe they are talking about Windows, an OS that is spyware and no one should use
An example of Windows being spyware not standard telemetry is the Recall feature. A feature that doesn’t just tell you how the OS is used but actually takes screenshots every few seconds
Windows, an OS that is spyware and no one should use
Of, ffs, grow up.
An example of Windows being spyware not standard telemetry is the Recall feature. A feature that doesn’t just tell you how the OS is used but actually takes screenshots every few seconds
You have no clue what you’re talking about, do you?
Recall only works on devices with an NPU. Do you know why? Because it runs locally. It’s got NOTHING to do with telemetry, because it does NOT send data to Microsoft.
Recall only works on devices with an NPU. Do you know why? Because it runs locally.
Show code or gtfo
LOL, this is hilarious :D
Imagine believing they can sneak gigabytes of network traffic without anyone noticing just because you can’t read the code! :D
Honestly it largely is.
Personally I like sharing crash reports, but even then, the user should be able to turn that off if you like.
Telemetry should be 100% opt-in.
Honestly it largely is.
I mean, by definition, it isn’t.
It’s anonymous and not malicious in nature. It’s a diagnostic and engagement measuring tool.
diagnostic
I think it is useful to send crash reports, but the user should have power over it (see: when macOS generates a crash report, it asks the user if they would like to send it)
engagement measuring
That is your data they are taking to make money off of without your consent, and I consider that malicious. There are ways to do that with consent. See: Steam’s annual hardware survey
That is your data they are taking to make money off of without your consent
I mean… They’re a for-profit company, so literally anything they do is to make money.
But it’s not “my data”, it’s anonymous. The “engagement” info is in relation to features. That’s why some features are removed - because nobody uses them. Or rather: not enough people use them to warrant maintenance.
not malicious in nature
Haha, sure thing William
Are you a tech-illiterate person?
If not, explain how is it malicious.
And how do you know it’s not malicious in nature? I’d like to know what your definition of “malicious” is if you’re just fine with letting a Corpo run system look at everything you’re doing.
And how do you know it’s not malicious in nature?
Because I have a functioning brain.
I’d like to know what your definition of “malicious” is
Malware is designed to hurt you by extracting your personal information or resources.
Telemetry is designed to give developers feedback about product/functionality usage and is anonymous.
you’re just fine with letting a Corpo run system look at everything you’re doing.
I’m not, and it’s not. Unlike you, I actually checked what data telemetry gathers and I’m perfectly fine with it. It’s inconsequential and anonymous.
I don’t think taking screenshots of everything you do every few seconds is telemetry.
It’s not, but it’s also not spyware - it’s local, encrypted, AND optional.
Optional like how it reminds me every 3 days that it wants my info for “customization” purposes, and I can only sleep the notification for another 3 days instead of telling it to fuck off?
They have been so predatory, at this point no one should see anything they do as benefiting end users.
If it does that, outrage will be understandable.
Getting outraged about something they said will be 100% optional and hasn’t even released yet is just childish.
Microsoft is known for making things “optional” at first then eventually forcing it down everyone’s throats. Removing offline accounts is one of them.
It’s not so much the technology itself is malware, but its behavior replicates that of malware.
Yes hello John Windows my microwave account name is Oobe\bypassnro
This also works: shift-F10 before you get to the network configuration, then type this and press enter start ms-cxh:localonly
For either method, if you configure networking during setup, e.g. plug in an ethernet cable or give it the wi-fi password, it’ll keep returning to the online account screen. You need to do it prior to network config.
Right. So you’re all panicking just in case.
That’s what’s being swept under the rug as “alarmists being loud”.
The same way you have a lock on your front door “just in case”. It’s not emotional. It’s logical.
The lock is there. The whole thing is encrypted.
If they somehow go through encryption, they won’t just have the EU on their arses, governments of the entire world will be after them, because they trust that this encryption system makes their data secure.
Actual optional things are disabled by default.
So you’re saying you haven’t bothered to read about Recall at all, you just assumed it’s going to be enabled by default?
Look at this bootlicker ignoring history and saying trust Microsoft.
“Look at this fossil thinking it’s still 1990”, I guess?
Mate, did you miss how 30 years have passed? How the world change? Can you even begin to imagine the fine the EU would slap without a second thought on MS if they tried pulling something like suddenly grabbing these screenshots from users’ devices?
Until a windows update kicks in and somehow turns it on for the world. thanks but no thanks. I’ll be disabling this not with a reg key but with local policy or DSC if I have to use a windows machine for personal again.
I switched to Linux 2 months ago.
Until a windows update kicks in and somehow turns it on for the world.
I don’t know if this is a regional thing, but I’ve been using Windows since 3.11 and have NEVER had ONE instance of an update randomly turning on something that I’ve turned off before.
how the hell do you not?
I don’t know, maybe because I understand the definition of “spyware” and “telemetry”?
Well, semantically yes, not all telemetry is spyware. However regarding Windows telemetry it’s indistinguishable from spyware - you have no idea nor control over the data gathered, measured and processed.
The crux is that Windows telemetry is opt out, opting out can’t be done during installation, and historically opting out wasn’t sticky. Additionally some Windows telemetry is still being sent despite opting out.
That makes Windows telemetry fulfill all spyware criteria.
However regarding Windows telemetry it’s indistinguishable from spyware - you have no idea nor control over the data gathered, measured and processed
Ah, so you’re another one of those fear-mongers?
Here’s the Required Diagnostic Events Fields (required telemetry) documentation.
Keeping in mind that it’s anonymous - which parts of this are you so vehemently against sending to Microsoft?
That makes Windows telemetry fulfill all spyware criteria.
The shittiest spyware in history, I guess, considering it’s all anonymous…
Unfortunately that would involve using the Brave browser, which is an antifeature in itself.
Can you elaborate? I don’t use it.
They shit on it because just like Mozilla, they made some shit decision by making some shady partnerships, and because the CEO is transphobic/homophobic/can’t remember
Apart from the usual bullshit and antifeatures it has, it’s still a great browser choice, just like Firefox
I just think the idea of your alternative being partially coded by the company you’re attempting to avoid is a little stupid. I don’t give a shit who he is. I barely give a shit who runs Mozilla.
Brave and every other Chromium fork are at the mercy of Google to exist as an alternative to Google, which to me, defeats the point. Every bit of their effort would be better spent rolling their money over to donate to browser development rather than band-aids.
“Just like Mozilla”.
Let’s compare.
Mozilla: installed a closed-source plugin once, and then apologised for it.
Brave CEO: actively supports homophobic organisations, donates money to them, injects affiliate links to stores, whenever given a microphone will say something bigoted and homophobic.
Yeah, it’s totally the same exact issue with both browsers!
Brave: injected affiliate links once, then apologised for it too. Developped a search engine to be less dependent on big companies
Mozilla is spending money like crazy, just like Wikipedia, has little to no democratic system which makes people fork the stuff they make, and prefer to use the money from donation to buy trips all over the world to educate about privacy and shit while they proceed to keep adding more telemetry and BS in firefox
They also make it close to impossible to install plugins outside their plugins website, which I’ve heard has some strict rules and take a lot of time to approve stuff. Closed garden bullshit again
Brave browser blocks Windows feature that takes screenshots of everything you do on your PC
As does Linux.
OK, you need to explain to me how tf does Linux block something that works only on Windows.
No Windows, no such Windows “features”.
Well, you certainly need to be in a specific state of mind for this to make any sense…
Yep, and you also have to be in a specific state of mind to be okay with “features” like something that takes screenshots of everything you do on your PC.
Then don’t enable it.
But, you can’t disable Recall, that’s the point…
You can just not use Windows and use Linux instead.
But, you can’t disable Recall, that’s the point…
Well… Technically you’re correct - because the feature is not out yet.
No idea WTF you people are reading here, but for a “Technology” community, the comments here are just plain ridiculous…
A device that surreptitiously gathers information on a target is called a bug, not a feature.
More like malware
yup. how do people continue using Winblows :/
It’s actually super simple: even though the community is called “Technology”, there’s A LOT of tech-illiterate fear mongering going on here. People behave like Microsoft is trying to spy on them, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Recall is:
- only available on devices with an NPU.
- local only, nothing goes out to the Internet (hence the NPU requirement).
- opt-in - you need to turn it on yourself.
There’s nothing malicious about it. Functionality is questionable, but acting like it’s malware is just showing ignorance.
So, you’re saying that browsing history, in literally any browser on the market, is a bug not a feature?
surreptitiously
Oh, wait, I actually missed that! How is something that you need to purposefully turn on “surreptitious”? Like… Holy fuck, people, this is supposed to be the community of tech-literate people, so maybe stop fear-mongering in read about Recall a bit? It’s opt-in, it’s limited to a (as of now) extremely small number of NPU-carrying devices, it’s offline.
If you don’t like it, just don’t fucking turn it on.
It’s a good thing that microsoft is trustworthy and you can believe everything they say. And that malware never misuses resources of the system on which it is installed.
Recall sits in a secure vault behind BitLocker encryption secured with Windows Hello.
BitLocker+Windows Hello gets broken through, the world has a much larger problem than some screenshots, because that’s the foundation of, like, 80% of enterprise security.
If you’re afraid that an attacker sits on your PC and just waits for you to unlock the vault, then you already have the PC breached to the point where they don’t have to do that, they already have access to everything else.
If you’re afraid of the feature in anyway, don’t use it.
You trust microsoft implicitly no matter what they do, I get it.
I don’t. I read tech specs and security analyses. You just stick your head in the sand whenever someone says “Microsoft”, though. It’s silly.
I don’t trust them and they have given me sufficient reason over the course of decades not to.
So you still think it’s 1990. Got it. Well, times have changed. We have better oversight. The EU has GDPR, user data is better protected. If they tried to pull off a “heist” and suddenly start grabbing these screenshots from users, the fine from EU would be historical.
Running Linux would block this feature too.
Just reason sayin.
Actually, Linux doesn’t block windows, it just isn’t windows.
Just reason saying.
Actually it does! When youre installing, just delete the windows boot partition and your done!
Delete only the boot partition? Doug kick him off the tour!
You gotta have your old files! But man does NTFS suck ass
