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Ask Slashdot: Can You Disable Windows 10's Privacy-Invading Features?
An anonymous reader writes: I really want to upgrade to Windows 10, but have begun seeing stories come out about the new Terms and how they affect your privacy. It looks like the default Windows 10 system puts copies of your data out on the "cloud", gives your passwords out, and targets advertising to you. The main reason I am looking to upgrade is that Bitlocker is not available on Windows 7 Pro, but is on Windows 10 Pro, and Microsoft no longer offers Anytime Upgrades to Windows 7 Ultimate. However, I don't want to give away my privacy for security. The other option is to wait until October to see what the Windows 10 Enterprise version offers, but it may not be available through retail. Are the privacy minded Slashdot readers not going with Windows 10?
For reference, I am referring to these articles. (Not to mention claims that it steals your bandwidth.) Have a question for Slashdot's readers? Take a look at other recent questions first to see if someone else has had a similar question. And if not, ask away! The more details and context you include, the more likely your question will be selected.
For reference, I am referring to these articles. (Not to mention claims that it steals your bandwidth.) Have a question for Slashdot's readers? Take a look at other recent questions first to see if someone else has had a similar question. And if not, ask away! The more details and context you include, the more likely your question will be selected.
Ok, than I'm going to tell you some anecdote. Last Friday I was in the local computer shop to buy a new SSD to replace my broken HD. The technicians there were upgrading several computers to Windows 10 for customer of theirs, and they were complaining about the fact that they could not continue with the installation without a Microsoft ID, so they created one on behalf of their customers and wrote down the details. They also just installed the Windows computers with default settings. Now, the guys are professionals. These are the technicians that the innocent computer user goes to for all their computer problems and questions. They were the technicians of people who are computer savvy enough to know that you need to have an up to date anti-virus and up-to date Windows and know that there was a -free- new version of Windows. But these people are not computer savvy enough to know how to upgrade.
The computer technicians knew kind of how to update to the latest Windows, and probably also know how to install new hardware, drivers and software. They probably are able to clean Windows installation that are infested with some kind of malware. But they are not the expert that know all IT inside out. The majority of the computer users and technicians are within this subset of computer users. They can do stuff with PC's, but have no idea what happens behind the scene.
It doesn't matter how easy it is to avoid the privacy problems of Windows 10, the vast majority of computer users is victim of this new behavior. The new behavior is that it's optional to not be tracked... and that you need to be computer savvy and literate enough to know what to turn on or off. And literacy is becoming more and more a problem with the average person. Do you really think that the average person understands what is in those length license agreements. Do you even think they bother to read it?
And what if you were such a computer technician yourself. Would you read the EULA and than conclude you don't want to agree with it and tell your boss that you want something else than Windows because of privacy issues? Good luck with that...