Microsoft Adds Risky System-Wide Undelete to Vista

douder writes "Windows Vista will have a new 'previous versions' feature when it ships next year. According to Ars Technica, the feature is built off of the volume shadow copy technology from Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Now turned on by default, the service stores the modified versions of a user's documents, even after they are deleted. They also report that you can browse folders from within Explorer to see snapshots of what they contained over time. It can be disabled, but this seems like a privacy concern." From the article: "Some users will find the feature objectionable because it could give the bossman a new way to check up on employees, or perhaps it could be exploited in some nefarious way by some nefarious person. Previous versions of Windows were still susceptible to undelete utilities, of course, but this new functionality makes browsing quite, quite simple. On the other hand, it should be noted that 'Previous Versions' does not store its data in the files themselves. That is, unlike Microsoft Office's 'track changes,' files protected with 'Previous Versions' will not carry their documentary history with them."

Comments

Look at your EULA again.

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I don't get the privacy concern. If someone gains physical access to your machine, then the contents are vulnerable unless you take active steps to prevent it.

There are not steps you can take to protect yourself other than to use free software. Microsoft has granted itself the right to violate you, and you agreed to it. They can do it anytime they want through the daily encrypted communications they demand with your computer.

Physical access is not required for privacy violation. The EULA which kindly grants you permission to use your M$ crippled computer also grants M$ the right to search it at will. While they might finally be sharing some of the fruits of this search with you, it does not mean they are sharing it all or that you should want it in the first place. When you connect it to a network, your indexed thoughts and works can be sent to M$ for them to sell to the highest bidder.

This is really just a detail and variation on a longstanding truism. The OS is not free, so you will never really know what it's doing and it should not be trusted. The details of that violation are less important than awareness of the problem.

It's only a neat feature if it can be trusted. In this case, it can't and it's not.