Slashdot Mirror
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.
Did you even read the articles that you've linked to? They talk about privacy issues with default settings (that is, "Express" install). If you're a regular member of the Slashdot audience, you will certainly pick "Customize" during installation anyway, and you'll get individual switches for all these things combined on the very first screen that you'll see after that, from advertising ID to Cortana. Just disable it all, and you're good to go. For bonus points, use a local user account rather than Microsoft ID.
Something happened.
1. You don't set up a live account. That shuts down most of it.
2. Change the host file to redirect most of the bad domains to localhost.
3. There are going to be endless registry hacks to turn things off or change the way they work.
4. programs are going to be released that change things or replace features with something else that does the same thing but is open source etc.
Basically yes.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Windows 10 is fast becoming the worst OS MS has produced, Adware built in, telemetry (new USA word for spyware) sucks in your private data to vortex.data.microsoft.net (not a typo) , its clear Microsoft didnt listen to a damm thing customers were saying and have gone from gatekeepers to poachers, advertising is a disease amongst USA tech companies with a shit business model
things i dont want:
Adverts
Spyware
TIFKAM (metro, aka MediaCenter with a new skin)
activeX gadgets^^H "modern apps"
Bing (shit search engine)
Cortana (that spying bitch)
any kind of "store"
Xbox anything
Forced WindowsUpdates
things i do want:
A proper start menu
Anti-trust investigations
Removal of all phone home code
Removal of Metro
Removal of the "app store"
Ability to stop updates
i certainly wont be recommending it to anyone, let alone pay them a penny for Solitaire, corporate certainly wont stand for this spying bullshit so small companies who dont buy into the licensing game are S.O.L
Nadella needs to realise if he wants to know where we live, now we need to know where he lives, what porn does he like ?, what stock mergers have they coming up ?, what car he drives ?, dont make us tell everybody.
1. You don't set up a live account. That shuts down most of it. 2. Change the host file to redirect most of the bad domains to localhost. 3. There are going to be endless registry hacks to turn things off or change the way they work. 4. programs are going to be released that change things or replace features with something else that does the same thing but is open source etc.
Basically yes.
Insert at the top of your list, renumber if desired:
0. When the installer gives you the opportunity to customize your setting do so, disable whatever you care too.
Why does it seem like manufacturers feel that they automatically have a right to your usage data after you buy their product?
Car manufacturers are already making big plans on creating new revenue streams with all the usage data they are collecting on our vehicles. Now, MS is taking the same approach (at least Windows 10 is free). What's to stop other vendors from doing the same? How about that new electric razor you bought; do you really want all your usage information to be sent back to the manufacturer, when you shaved, how you shaved, where you shaved? As more and more products are shipped with internet capability, manufacturers feel that they have a right to collect usage information weather you like it or not.
I'm not liking where this is going...
Instead of worrying about whether you managed to find every little thing you needed to find to avoid the OS harvesting all your data behind your back, why not just install Debian or Mint and use dm-crypt and/or ecryptfs in place of bitlocker?
SO much simpler and more worry free, and you get to be free of that nagging feeling that you missed one of the privacy settings they buried under that "beware of the leopard" sign...
I have been going through and cataloging everything that Windows 10 does, and looking to end the communication with Microsoft component-by-component. It'll take removing packages with dism, setting group policies and making secure policies into the "default user", blocking employees being able to lock out admin simply because they want to log in to the store etc., turning off the update services, etc. It's a long road to lock down win10. You still can't keep the OS from doing anything it wants though, basically Microsoft has decided that they get to rootkit and keylog your box while background capturing your location and data files.
The first thing that admins should be doing is looking at how MS has invaded windows 7 with it's GMX and telemetry updates for the older OSs. Besides the tray ad, a whole new package of privacy invading phone-home and send your data was included in the "critical updates". There are about eight different tasks added to windows 7 scheduled tasks that even admin can't remove, they have to be manually pruned from the registry.
It takes a good amount of powershell, registry editing, and dism to script-remove this malware from windows 7, and if you were letting windows update since April, the damage is already done.
In order to use Siri on the iPhone, or Google Home on Android, you have to give up the same information that Microsoft is now requesting with Windows 10.
You can turn off most if not all of the settings, but you loose some of the functionality. It's up to each user to find the "right spot" in this balance.
-1: When even gpedit.msc (group policy editor)'s documented behavior for turning off the submission of potentially information-leaking reports to Microsoft is "0 (send no data): Equivalent to '1' (basic) on non-Enterprise systems", you cannot disable everything you want to.
-2: When users suggest removing the files associated with Diagnostic/Tracking/Telemetry servies, note that...
-3: ...on non-Enterprise systems, you cannot disable the forced updates. You can delay them on Pro, but not forever. So eventually, those files are going to find their way back on your system eventually...
-4: ...if they don't get put back immediately because Windows Defender (which also cannot be disabled except temporarily, and then it automatically turns itself back on) could trivially be programmed to categorize user attempts to delete the offending services as "malware" and restore them by itself.
If you consider error reporting noninvasive and automatic upgrade checks non-leaky and of acceptable risk to system stability, you can turn off the offensive stuff in Win10 Pro.
If your requirement is to eliminate error reporting and an at-all-times active antivirus product, then no, it is not possible to turn off the privacy-invading features of Windows 10.
FWIW I will not be upgrading. Even the most basic error reporting like "POWERPOINT.EXE crashed while editing GOOGLE-HOSTILE-TAKEOVER-MICROSOFT.PPT" is unacceptable in financial circles, and the HIPAA laws are even more draconian. Windows 10 is no longer a general purpose computing platform.
Fuck no. Looking for alternatives to windows 10 I actually installed Ubuntu today and found that it is collecting my searches and sharing them with third parties.
But at least you still have Solitaire. This could be the tipping point we've been waiting for.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Xubuntu, never Ubuntu.
And that is why Linux has no chance...
There is no "Linux", there are 100s of "Linux" versions, it is WAY too confusing for your average customer.
So it just isn't going to happen...
things i do want:
[...]
Removal of all phone home code
For that, you're probably going to have to switch to GNU/Linux. Phone home code was introduced in Windows XP.
Removal of the "app store"
Do package repositories on GNU/Linux distributions count as an "app store" to you?
Excessive fragmentation is one of the unfortunate issues with Linux.
The odd thing is if they collapsed some of the projects and spent that dev time on a handful of distro's they could really improve things. Instead you have a bunch of very talented people spinning yet another 'fork'.
Flip side, I am a big LINUX fan (but not a zealot, Windows has its place).
I converted all three of my kids over from windows several years ago due to having to fix their issues too often (browser hijacks, etc).
They were given a choice between Mint and Ubuntu (two went with Ubuntu, the third Mint). At first they were hesitant but after all the time spent dealing with windows issues (including the almost-daily updates needing a restart) they gave in.
One time our youngest had formatting issues with a powerpoint in libreoffice so the option came up to move back to windows and she refused.
The only windows PC left in the house is my wife's and she refuses to move over she's not into technology and needs the chinese IME which she knows how to work under windows.
It is far easier to drop in a Linux DVD and restart after like 15 mins with a working system (including office package) then installing windows, the drivers, the apps (probably spending the better part of an afternoon on the install).
YMMV (Your mileage may vary) but i have had pretty good luck with the 5 Linux machines (two ubuntu, 3 mint) in my house.
maybe somebody should make a new linux distribution to solve the excessive fragmentation issue.
You think "most people" need CAD, Adobe apps, MS Office, financial software, medical software or supply chain software?
Most people need a web browser.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I disagree.
I think it'll be a mainstream desktop OS soon after someone manage to get the
word to the masses that they don't have to pay for Windows or Mac OS.
That's nice, but you're wrong.
Why can I say you're wrong? Because people have been saying that for 20 years, it hasn't happened, it won't happen, it isn't even remotely close to happening.
The number of ways that is wrong is extensive, but just a few:
1. It costs money to get "word to the masses", a lot of money. Anyone spending that money wants something in return, and giving away free without conditions isn't it.
2. The average consumer doesn't have any issue with the current price of Windows. Windows is either "Free" with the computer, or a trivial cost. OS X is also "free" with a computer.
3. The average consumer has no interest in learning how to install anything, or how that magic computer box works.
It wouldn't take much.
Yep, the "Year of Linux on the Desktop" is just around the corner... you keep that hope alive!
Most people need to be able to run anything they find without worrying if it will work. That means everything from a cross-stitch pattern maker to a Sea World screensaver to Photoshop (the real thing, from Adobe) to any random VPN client for whatever shonky hardware some middle manager at their company requisitioned to the text editor they downloaded (from download.com, complete with malware on the side) to any and/or every game on Steam (including ports of old DOS games) to, well, you name it.
That means Windows, because Linux just isn't up to the task. If you want to solve this problem, it's sad to say that WINE is probably your only hope. Or just buy Windows and get a well supported system with a large user community. Think of it as paying for the support, not for the OS itself. Because, truly, that's what it is. You're not paying for the OS, you're paying for the work that was, is, and will be put into making it. You're just paying Microsoft, not Red Hat... or wasting your own time fixing things. Beyond that, it's all ideology and RMS rants.
You can only disable them in Enterprise, not Pro or Home, and the workarounds needed for the non-corpHOrate versions are nontrivial.
This is your actual guide (for now, until M$ patches their shit)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10
With some comments here that are useful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/3f10k0/things_to_removedisable_in_windows_10/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/31rxsv/disable_keylogger_windows_10/
Frankly, this is such a cluster fuck that "Install Linux, Problem Solved" is kind of applicable. I get that it's not at all the answer everyone wants- they want the powers that you can get in the corporate version only, such as "not being spied on", "can disable telemetry", "don't push local files and file data to Microsoft", etc.- but these are the technical workarounds that work for now. Unless there's a serious push against M$, this shit is going to be permanent- for proof of that, look at how wild and ludicrous the stuff you agreed to in the EULA was, including every keystroke you press, every file you open, every program you run, who you call and for how long, where you are, and every other thing. You essentially legally agreed to a full fledged keylogger and backorifice installation, and even if you can turn it off, until that EULA is fixed, the problem is real.
I was just about to do that, but then worried someone would fork it ;)
Why can I say you're wrong? Because people have been saying that for 20 years, it hasn't happened, it won't happen, it isn't even remotely close to happening.
I can remember much the same being said about Internet Explorer, which went from well over 90% usage share to more like 20% over the last 10-15 years (with much of the decline happening before mobile became an important factor).
An entrenched monopoly can be difficult to dislodge, but that doesn't mean it will last forever. Microsoft has also lost a lot of ground that would have protected Windows had it held onto them - control of the web browser and wordprocessor being the two main ones.
(Imagine if every website used ActiveX - that would be a problem for competitors. There are plenty of market niches were similar problems still exist, but for mainstream users I don't see any insurmountable barriers to migration now.)
Now it may very well be that what replaces the Windows desktop isn't called Linux. It might not even be Linux-based, or run on what we would currently recognise as a desktop PC. (The most effective challengers so far have been Android and IOS, which satisfy two and three of these conditions respectively.) Microsoft could also stay there longer by upping their game. Nothing lasts forever, though.