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How To Keep Microsoft's Nose Out of Your Personal Data In Windows 10
MojoKid writes: Amid the privacy concerns and arguably invasive nature of Microsoft's Windows 10 regarding user information, it's no surprise that details on how to minimize leaks as much as possible are often requested by users who have recently made the jump to the new operating system. If you are using Windows 10, or plan to upgrade soon, it's worth bearing in mind a number of privacy-related options that are available, even during the installation/upgrade. If you are already running the OS and forgot to turn them off during installation (or didn't even see them), they can be accessed via the Settings menu on the start menu, and then selecting Privacy from the pop-up menu. Among these menus are a plethora of options regarding what data can be gathered about you. It's worth noting, however, that changing any of these options may disable various OS related services, namely Cortana, as Microsoft's digital assistant has it tendrils buried deep.
"How To Keep Microsoft's Nose Out of Your Personal Data In Windows 10"
How about a new HOSTS file? APK?
don't install the damm thing!
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Just install Linux.
You're welcome.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
Yes, I can see the options during the setup. Years of updating Java have trained me to uncheck everything.
Anyway that is old news.
We want to know more about the things you can not set in the options.
Ways to prevent forced updates?
Remove hidden services?
If the default is "on" , what if a bug in the code resets the setting or ignores the setting. Are there any indicators that this information is going out? Can there be any indicators? What is the amount of encrypted traffic going out from the system to microsoft? Any way to look at what is being sent at any point in time? Does it ever log what was sent? Can it?
It actually is that big a deal. It is just that the MS PR department managed to convince some clueless people that what they do is harmless. It is not.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
it's funny that considering how "deep" Cortana is, it gets utterly confused and useless when I say "Cortana start microsoft word".
I'm just waiting for the coffee table book now.
Not using Windows 10 is how you keep Microsoft out of your business.
Purportedly M$ is also issuing updates to Win7/8 that would mirror Win10 behavior. You want out? Install Linux (or FreeBSD)
I've been with windows for close to two decades.
But I'm probably going to either use an older windows box or just bite the bullet and go to linux for my "real" machine. I might use windows for a gaming machine.
I've used openoffice then libre office for years now and no longer even occasionally dip back into Word.
I've disliked the tighter microsoft email/social account integration for a while now.
I really dislike what I'm hearing about the new o/s. I stopped using facebook because of similar actions.
it's like being fabulously wealthy isn't enough. If windows 10 goes forward as is, I probably won't go with it.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Just a day or two ago /. does the responsible thing and posts an article that actually discusses what is going on and shows that it's really not that big a deal.
Said the average idiot.
Just a day or two ago /. does the responsible thing and posts an article that actually discusses what is going on and shows that it's really not that big a deal. The very next day they're bad to spreading fud. Make up your mind, and stop trying to have it both ways.
So basically install the next piece of global spyware shit that Windows is, then spend a few days reading how to disable all the spyware shit. Then hope that it was all of it because you can never know. It is closed source for a reason.
Here have this true post that got modded -1 for literally being factual. It also was beneath an "account holder" that got modded 0. Facts.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7860731&cid=50336091
And have this one, same true links, also modded -1.
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7814945&cid=50277265
Everybody should begin their posts with those links, see if you can even see Slashdot at all without moving the sliders to see -1 and 0 modded posts. ,,|,,
And if you even say haha derp Windows rules... you are looking at Insightful +5. Facebook and Twitter buttons... and lies, go figure.
How can I remove the trackers from your website.
We all knew it was optional, and options are easy to find, you even get to disable those features on install, but, this is /.
Was when I was looking at the app store, but it said I had to log in to my microsoft account to use any of the apps. OK, logged in with my hotmail account which has a long complex password, which was copy/pasted with my password manager. I turn my PC off for the night, next day it won't take my usual password because it's now not a local machine logon, but is my microsoft logon, which I can't fill in because I can't open my password manager. Luckily I backup the keepass data to a USB flashdrive, so I fire up my other real OS which is linux so I can write down the frigging password to get the windows pile of shit logged back in. Screw MS... wiping the drive and installing linux.
Just a day or two ago /. does the responsible thing and posts an article that actually discusses what is going on and shows that it's really not that big a deal. The very next day they're bad to spreading fud. Make up your mind, and stop trying to have it both ways.
So basically install the next piece of global spyware shit that Windows is, then spend a few days reading how to disable all the spyware shit. Then hope that it was all of it because you can never know. It is closed source for a reason.
Here have this true post that got modded -1 for literally being factual. It also was beneath an "account holder" that got modded 0. Facts.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7860731&cid=50336091
And have this one, same true links, also modded -1. http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
Everybody should begin their posts with those links, see if you can even see Slashdot at all without moving the sliders to see -1 and 0 modded posts. ,,|,,
And if you even say haha derp Windows rules... you are looking at Insightful +5. Facebook and Twitter buttons... and lies, go figure.
Couple of days of reading?, like you could just click the damn "Privacy options" link at install time and uncheck the 4 or 5 options. I get it, you're used to Linux, where you need 743 command line commands to do anything, but, c'mon
To disable forced updates, go into Services and set Windows Update to Disabled. Then put an icon for Services on the task bar
"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." --Senator Carl Schurz (1872)
I thought the Win 7&8 EULAs did not permit the amount of spying that the Win 10 EULA did.
I went by the Apple store a few days ago, and the people there were not knowledgeable of privacy in Win 10, or even privacy on OS X. I guess they are just retail employees, so I should have more realistic expectations for them.
If you don't think having integrated spyware, adverts and forced updates in your OS is "not that big a deal", then you are a fucking moron.
Simple. Don't install Windows 10.
The thing that pisses me off about Windows 10 is the apparent lack of control the user has with their own machine. Exhibit A: http://www.tenforums.com/attac...
Check out the real-time protection option. "You can turn it off temporarily, but if it's off for a while, we'll turn it back on automatically." What bullshit is that? First, it doesn't tell you what it constitutes as "a while". A day? A week? A month? Second, the fact that it believes that power users are extinct and might have an edge-case for permanently disabling it is ridiculous. It's based off of Microsoft Security Essentials, and I disabled the real-time protection when installed on Win 7 on my netbook because it was just too much for the poor little Atom processor to deal with. If I needed to scan something, I'd do it on-demand. Here, I have no permanent solution because Windows 10 thinks it knows better than my situation.
Windows 10 is peppered with many other areas which make me feel less in control than I used to. I know that I can't have full control when running a proprietary system, but it's all about degrees, and Win 10 feels far less catered for power users than Win 7.
Well, don't worry. This is pretty much guaranteed to happen with each new release of Windows. Also, the article isn't as hysterical as the headline makes it out to be. I think it's a good thing for people to be made away of all the privacy controls and their implications.
There are some serious and legitimate privacy concerns, but nearly every single privacy invasive feature can be turned off, and that's really important. What's the downside? There are some features that rely on the ability to talk to Microsoft servers and read various personal data, like e-mail, calendars, and contacts. A personal digital assistant like Cortana needs to know a LOT about you to be effective. Another one is cloud synchronization - obviously, if you want your various PCs and devices to be synchronized automatically, personal data will need to be stored in Microsoft servers so they can be transferred between your machines. Whether you consider those "privacy invading" or "neat new features" (or both) largely depends on your perspective.
We've heard reports about a few services still communicating with MS servers. This isn't exactly a huge concern to me, as I'd expect a few things like activation and updates to still talk to MS. There may be a few other things that slip through the cracks (like start menu tiles still refreshing even though they're all removed), but it doesn't have the feel of anything malicious to me. Others may choose to believe the worst, of course.
One of the big issues for me is the forced updates, because that has serious implications regarding stability (I've personally had to roll back a seriously bugged Nvidia driver until it was fixed many months later). We've already seen problems with this, so it's not really a theoretical concern. I've heard Microsoft may be backing down a bit, acknowledging that people need to be able to block known bad updates / drivers, and have released a standalone tool that can do this. My bet is that this will later be integrated into Windows myself, but at least it's possible now.
I'm not a big believer in conspiracy theories about MS scanning your drive and sending your personal data away. What's the motivation? Plenty of people will gladly opt in (or more accurately, choose not to opt-out) just to get the convenience of automatic cloud backups, synchronization, and an intelligent digital assistant. They're not going to care about the minority of people that are privacy-concerned enough to shut off all those features. They stand to lose FAR more in lawsuits, lost consumer confidence, and political probes than whatever they might gain from it.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
From all the articles I've read about Windows 10, it looks like there are quite a number of settings that must be made to stop all that "phone home" behavior.
The number of changes is large enough so that I don't trust myself to do them all by clicking various GUI screens. I'll inevitably miss one or get it wrong -- which is unacceptable when privacy and security are at stake.
Does anyone know of any software yet that fixes Windows 10's abuses using a single-step installer?
Couple of days of reading?, like you could just click the damn "Privacy options" link at install time and uncheck the 4 or 5 options.
Two major problems with that:
1) There aren't options to disable all of the spyware in Windows 10.
2) Even when you "disable" the options that you are graciously allowed to by Microsoft on your own PC, it still sends that data anyway.
If you knew how to use a packet analyser, you could see that for yourself instead of posting comments that reveal what a clueless idiot you are.
It is a big deal. However some people have been brainwashed into not caring about privacy. "Oh, it's just for providing a better customer experience, I'm all for that!", or "I love advertising, especially when it's targeted!", or "I like things in the clouds, especially the bunny shaped ones", or "when has Microsoft ever been evil?"
Couple days of reading articles about Windows 10 that is, not to read the checkboxes. Only someone who trusts Microsoft would trust those checkboxes to do what they say.
Can you trust that they are being turned off? Microsoft does not have a good track record when it comes to telling the truth. Even after turning off those options it seems that Windows 10 is still transmitting a lot of data that appears to be telemetry. Even if this is purely benign data, it is not their network and it is not free so they should not transmit anything without the user's explicit permission.
I think the problem is that MS isn't being completely clear as to what it is they're collecting or why they're collecting it. Take those seven or eight updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 that added forced telemetry collection. No one really knows what it is those things are collecting - MS's own update really doesn't say much other than "It's information needed to ease the transition between Windows 7 or 8.1 and Windows 10" and "It's for customer experience improvements". On top of this, all of the telemetry updates were marked as "Important" in Windows Update, meaning that they'll be automatically installed on most update configurations.
If MS really had some reason to do this, they should have said exactly what it is they were collecting and why from the get-go, and also had a clear opt-out provision. Failing to do this is what's sparking a lot of paranoia - I've heard everything from "MS's telemetry service is logging everything you type and sending it to MS to improve autocorrect functionality" to "MS is actively recording input from attached webcams and microphones and sending it to MS servers".
I think if MS were to put out a well-thought out announcement telling people why it is they're doing this, a lot of the paranoia would go away.
So, if Microsoft and their business partners know these things about me:
1) I browse the web with Firefox, mostly hitting slashdot, the onion, amazon.com, and weather underground.
2) I play a lot of video games, especially racing games, action games, and the occational MMO.
3) I use openoffice instead of microsoft word.
4) I buy stuff on amazon, including sci-fi books, printer ink, and other random domestic stuff.
5) My tastes in porn are softcore, and I am a cheap bastard who refuses anything that isn't free.
In what way am I harmed? What are they going to do with this information, clean out my bank account? Burn down my house? Lock me in a cell?
Sheesh, this stuff isn't worth protecting.
(Yeah, I am posting as AC. That's because I don't have or want a slashdot account, not because I give a rat's ass about the fact that slashdot records my IP address and now knows all this about me).
This is getting out of hand. Every day I see one of these privacy articles and they all say basically the same thing.
It's reminding me of the Hysteria with Smart Meters. I just got one last week and searching about them online I found tons of sites telling me how it's going to give me Cancer, Hack my Router, Kill my Plants, Keep me up at night and Burn my house down.
I guess I'll have to make another story counter like the one I had to make for the Firefox .NET Plugin but i'm afraid i'll have 30 articles in it by the end of this month at this rate.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
Equivalently: "How may I [consort with] a brothel of multiply infected hookers who have graduate biomed degrees, practical research in communicable infection and a fervent INTENT to infect their customers?"
As WOPR said in "Wargames", 30+ years ago, "Interesting game. The only way to win is not to play."
Don't DOWNGRADE to WIndows 10. Windows 7 is superior to Windows 10. If you installed Windows 10 remember you have 30 days to change your mind and UPGRADE back to Windows 7.
Captcha: Undoing
Even if you disable everything Win10 still sends out collected information about you. The only way would be running through another machine acting as a router (or simply a router) and filtering that way through various measures.
Couple days of reading articles about Windows 10 that is, not to read the checkboxes. Only someone who trusts Microsoft would trust those checkboxes to do what they say.
So is like you can't win, if there are no options, it's because you don't have options, if you have options, then they don't work on purpose, Why would you even consider using Windows in the first place?
Are Macs reasonably secure/private?
base points for a working ap and 4X for hardware and add 2 to the multiplier if you post detailed plans and a firmware image.
Within 3 to 6 months some tool will come out from someone, similar to classic shell but for privacy. It'll disable any and everything properly and "fix" any odd crap straight up.
Let other people get messy with it.
I mean you could just not use it but for some of us, that isn't an option.
I'm happy to wait for a cool tool, probably be published like most useful free tools on Ninite.com as well, it'll be a piece of cake.
Let others beta test.
Because it used to be an operating system and had not yet turned into a smartphone wannabe.
I had high hopes for Windows 10. So far it has only taken away features from my Windows 7 install, and made my machine run dog-slow.
Xbox one had all of this privacy bullshit and the public spoke with their wallet to force them to change it.
The only way would be running through another machine acting as a router
What about just installing a firewall in Windows 10 that blocks Microsoft's IP addresses? Why wouldn't that work?
... http://www.linuxmint.com/
Your on /. and.... and you only have one machine? Real dotters have at least a dozen PC, many brands or home built, six or more SBC, running any OS that trips their trigger, including M$. However, we don't HOOK the M$ box to the tubes. Jesus...
Don't buy it.
Microsoft stinks at communication, and has for a very long time. I think that explains a lot right there. I agree that MS could and should be much better at being better at communicating some of this stuff. That being said, I think they've been fairly up-front about what options are available for privacy. And if you actually care to read all 30 pages (or whatever) of their EULA, it's spelled out in pretty excruciating detail. Note that there have been some click-bait articles that have taken some of those details out of context as well.
As far as the recent flap about keyloggers, spyware... Almost all of that can be explained by context. Keep in mind that Windows 10 agreements now cover ALL devices, including tablets and mobile. Some of the "scarier" sounding language about keyloggers and learning what how you right can be attributed to on-screen keyboards which need to learn your writing style to create accurate predictive algorithms, and there's also a new component that automatically transcribes handwriting - again, it has to do this by watching how and what you're writing to tailor itself to your tendencies. If you want these capabilities to follow you from device to device (and I'd bet most people do), then it need to be synchronized by a cloud network. And as for MS recording input from webcams and microphones, or recording what you type... uh, yeah, no kidding. That's how Cortana works. Her "smarts" are relying a great deal on the indexed answers that the Bing search engine has stored, as well as some specialty knowledge that she's learned by scanning your personal data. And she can answer those questions from anywhere, because that information is stored in Microsoft's servers.
Telemetry updates for improving updates? Yep, easy to explain. According to Paul Thurrott (Windows Weekly podcast), Microsoft was actually offering Windows 10 updates *first* to those who had the most well-tested configurations. That is, all their PC hardware had certified drivers for Windows 10, so they were expected to have a trouble-free update. Updates were then rolled out to subsequently less well-tested configurations. How exactly do you think MS would be preparing for an in-place update like this of a billion computers worldwide with millions of unique configurations? Yeah, I'd think they were gathering some telemetry from users about hardware and drivers so they could test the most common configurations.
So, no, I don't buy into the hysteria. Are there legitimate concerns about some of this stuff? Sure, absolutely. But I'm not going to jump to oddball conclusions that, at this point at least, are pure speculation. If you apply a bit of common sense, there are perfectly rational explanations for everything we've seen so far.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
It's worth noting, however, that changing any of these options may disable various OS related services, namely Cortana, as Microsoft's digital assistant has it tendrils buried deep.
And nothing of value was lost.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
the worlds smallest open source violin.
Just a day or two ago /. does the responsible thing and posts an article that actually discusses what is going on and shows that it's really not that big a deal. The very next day they're bad to spreading fud. Make up your mind, and stop trying to have it both ways.
But it's worse than that; this is an article telling noob users how to open Settings and untick a bunch of options. With screenshots. Any regular slashdotter should feel quite insulted having this article posted here. Seriously, somebody thinks we need to see some screenshots of how the Settings pages work.
If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
Just because you kill a feature in 'settings' doesnt mean that they have to oblige. You can't see the code so you cannot be sure if changing the settings actually changes anything
Windows 10 is free. That means YOU and YOUR data are the product they are selling to someone else.
They're not going to put out an announcement telling people that.
Uhh yeah..about that? those are like the button at a stoplight, makes ya feel good but don't do shit...didn't ya get the memo? Unless you set up a hardware router with IP based blocking and block a shitload of IP addresses then everything you do is getting sent to the mothership whether you like it or not.
You didn't think you'd get anything "free" from MSFT, did you? Hell its the most expensive version of Windows EVAR as not only do you trade a legit key from a non spyware version of Windows but you ALSO give them your data for sale, so you get to double pay for that "free" OS...hell of a scam,huh?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
They're going to market you to advertisers and sell their customer lists, if you ever get an app (don't do this!) they'll let the app makers know what similar apps you have purchased. Their goal is to out-google Google, and out-apple Apple. They know they're behind in the customer monetization game and are trying to leapfrog past the others. Windows is in a decline as the casual users are moving to phones and tablets so Microsoft is desperate here.
Just look at Windows 8, the whole thing from top to bottom that they marketed was purely about getting eyeballs to their useless store and getting users to sign up with Microsoft ID accounts. When beta users figured out how to bypass the Metro stuff and go straight to the usable desktop, the very next patch disabled this ability because their goal was to get everyone to that start screen where the monetization starts. Sure they fired the VP in charge of Windows after this, but are you really sure all the decision makers who pushed for that idea are really reformed?
Encrypted, read the link.
I wonder how many of you morons are using chrome as you harp about m$ "spying" on your usage.
Install both linux and windows as a dual boot, use linux for anything you want kept private....play your games on windows...whats the problem here?
From Wiktionary:
assistant (plural assistants)
1 (obsolete) Someone who is present; a bystander, a witness.
2 A person who assists or helps someone else.
3 (Britain) Sales assistant.
4 A software tool that provides assistance in some task.
Don't complain you're being watched.
And don't think it's helping you.
Someone/something assisting you can learn your will; he/she/it can change your will -- or rather your will as perceived by the outside world... with or without your knowledge about such change. That is the power secretaries have.
Such power can apparently be amassed, organized and put to "good" use (for particular definitions of "good").
So your problem is that you have a choice between the devil you don't know and the devil you don't know, and you've chosen to go with the devil you don't know because you feel that they may or may not be able to be trusted with the data they're collecting without your explicit approval, as well as your vocal interactions around your computer?
Thanks Microsoft! Windows 10 gives all the users that were thinking of trying Linux an obvious incentive to make the switch!
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
All to technical folks. The simplest solution is the one to use, not hopscotching around Microsoft's latest disaster-"OS". I will give it to you in a compact, easy to understand three (3) words: Just Run Linux.
Just a day or two ago /. does the responsible thing and posts an article that actually discusses what is going on and shows that it's really not that big a deal. The very next day they're bad to spreading fud. Make up your mind, and stop trying to have it both ways.
But it's worse than that; this is an article telling noob users how to open Settings and untick a bunch of options. With screenshots. Any regular slashdotter should feel quite insulted having this article posted here. Seriously, somebody thinks we need to see some screenshots of how the Settings pages work.
I am shocked as well! The article didn't even tell me how to correctly open and edit the C:\\windows\system\system_hooks_et_phone_home.inf. If this was a real slashdot article then they would have gone into details about how to use vi from a Knoppix live usb stick to fix the fucked up privacy settings in Windows10. But to explain that you use buttons from what was the start menu to access a new fangled convoluted window gui called SETTINGS to do thing that should be done only with a regedit is heresy!
What has the world come to even slashdot has stooped to the masses and is now geared toward people who are essentially computer illiterate. THE END IS NEAR slashdot members and all true believers in OSS. Microsoft will purchase sourceforge cripple all the great freeware like VLC and Audacity by making you use the MS store to access all freeware on Windows. And Dice INC will finally finish everything OSS off by turning slashdot into a pale version of ENGADGET or worse still an inferior copy of CNET where the mindless users rule the day.
ALL YOUR DATA ARE BELONG TO US SUCKERS! Where did I put that joint I need to smoke some pot and stop using computers. The people who are running the computer industry are all smoking crack and snorting coke, thinking that there is value in the hording of user info so I think I will take up weed again and buck the trend. Google is making cash in advertising and Microsoft has turned into a Zombie Inc thinking that it will also learn how make money off user data with the Bing, cell, tablet, notebook, desktop everything cloud if they can only trick everybody into using their every device like a cell phone and every device then hooks into MS servers. What a fucking joke! I can smell the crack pipes all the way from Redmond, boy oh boy they are in for a shock when Windows10 does nothing to increase the use of Bing and the MS cloud! They should have stuck to trying to replace WInXP in business with a decent work station OS that runs on peanuts worth of ram on older gear. NO instead they have created a fucking resource hog monster that is going to sink them.
3) When updates are installed, the settings are reset to default values.
Or they are forbidden to tell the truth.
I mean, maybe some agency wouldn't mind having a keylogger on 95% of the world's computers?
Seriously. Bail out. Migrate from Windows. What the hell will it take? What more need they take from you before you realise that a by now very slight learning curve is worth not having an operating system actively out to harm you?
If you knew how to use a packet analyser, you could see that for yourself
All of that likely to be encrypted, though
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
The only sure way to prevent win10 from installing, monitoring, reporting, narcing, and doing things on your privately owned hardware, with your privately paid for internet connection, is to Never install it. Ever. If you doubt me try rolling back. Go on. Try it. I'll wait.
I get it, you're used to Linux, where you need 743 command line commands to do anything
Usually switching from mouse/GUI to a terminal allows you to do exactly precisely what you want in a few commands (and if you need 743 commands, make a shell script, which becomes one command). And you also usually get a level of feedback (errors...) you wouldn't have with the Gui.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Why would you buy the product if you have these concerns! It just seems ridiculous. Obviously Windows 10 is utterly user hostile, but if you have the common sense to realise this, why are you even still considering buying it?
There are plenty of free software alternatives, that respect the rights of users, are MUCH more user friendly, and have a better range of tools (at least for my use cases, which are primarily development)
I can't understand why people think they have the right to complain when they choose to buy a product like windows. It has been user hostile for years - with the whole interface being re-arranged to suit Microsoft's failed attempts to enter the mobile market. There was also the ribbon toolbar catastrophe for office, which turned a fairly usable product into a total mess, apparently just so that the UI could be made distinct.
My wife has a small photography business, and Photoshop and Lightroom are huge aspects of her photo editing workflow. She's invested untold hours building up skills in them, and that proficiency really pays off in terms of the quality and speed of her editing work.
Right now she edits on our Windows 7 box. I'm almost dead set against us using Windows 10 because of this privacy crap (and now I apparently have to try undoing the telemetry those assholes snuck into Windows 7.)
I feel caught between a rock and a hard place, because switching to a Mac would be an unwelcome expense for us. Also an business risk, since I can cheaply repair or upgrade a PC, but I have not expectation of being able to do that on a Mac. So if a Mac craps out near one of her deadlines, I'm not confident that I can get it (or a replacement) online as fast as we really want.
I'm just amazed at how hard Microsoft is working to drive us away. They've gone from being a reasonable partner for our kind of business (Windows 7), to being one of our largest sources of medium- and long-term risk. They're now making our decision to use Windows for her business, into a strategic mistake.
I really hope Adobe comes up with some decent solution to people in our shoes. If they have a Linux port of Creative Suite in their back pocket, this would be a dandy time to start selling it.
3) Those are the obvious options. There are many more burried all over the place, under control panel and settings, every one of which is invasive-by-default. It's quite the quest to find them all, and even when you do find them all you only run into 1) anyway - you've reduced the spying a bit, but not eliminated it.
You can't even run calculator or the image viewer without Microsoft knowing. Really. Every time you do, it establishes a connection to licensing.md.mp.microsoft.com. I think it does that for all the new-style-interface apps, perhaps checking for revocation or collecting usage statistics.
Almost all. At least MS is being sensible here and making sure only they can spy on it, not half the internet via traffic interception. The only unencrypted thing I've found are updates for the live tiles, which are plain old HTTP grabbing mostly XML files.
If you knew how to use a packet analyser, you could see that for yourself
All of that likely to be encrypted, though
So? Its my computer. I'll decide what runs on it, and what information it sends out. Not a third party. Encrypted or not, its still transmitting personal information about me agaisnt my express permission.
I know Google tracks me, that's why it offers so much free shit. I'm the product.
MS charges you money for the OS. I'm not the product. I paid for the product. If MS wants information about me that I know is valuable, we need to talk about consent and compensation. Otherwise I expect anything I purchase to do what I want when I want.
Although Win8 really tried hard.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean that they ain't out to get you.
But seriously. If I had to sell a product that was potentially harmful, the first thing I'd do as soon as stories about the harm it can do start to surface is to launch a flood of even more outlandish claims (like smart meters burning your house or killing your pets) to make the original, correct, claims look like yet another batch of crazy loonies having a field day.
It's basically misinformation 101.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I know it wasn't the the fault of whose who were having a civil discussion with me, but I'm not going to continue posting when it just results in me being mod-bombed for no rational reason.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
Is not to use they turds. Do not use Windows and Office, come on. Even a 5 year old can understand it.
it might be your computer but you just loan the OS when buying a Microsoft Operating system. Check your EULA
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
> , but nearly every single privacy invasive feature can be turned off
I was going to call you a liar, until I saw the qualifier "nearly". In fact, we don't know all the things that can't be turned off. We just know about a lot of them. Note also that the methods to turn them off often only appear to work (ex: turning telemetry off in the registry only works in Enterprise, in Pro or Home or anything that a mere non-corporation can legally own, the setting is ignored).
Anyway, the reason I'm responding is because you talk about a "conspiracy theory". Don't use those words. That's not what this is.
This is OBSERVED data leaving your box, for reasons that don't help YOU in any way, and can ONLY be used to hurt you, with NO supported way to disable them. Microsoft is willing to ignore networking standards and the best interests of their customers to do this.
It's not a "conspiracy", because it's a known entity- Microsoft.
It's not a "theory", because it's not an "unproven thing" or a "framework for discussion". It's observed. You can observe it yourself, should you so desire.
The leaking is tremendous. Simply watching the network traffic on Windows 10 reveals vastly more about the user than you would expect, and that's before even caring about what's IN the goddamned network traffic.
But seriously. If I had to sell a product that was potentially harmful, the first thing I'd do as soon as stories about the harm it can do start to surface is to launch a flood of even more outlandish claims (like smart meters burning your house or killing your pets) to make the original, correct, claims look like yet another batch of crazy loonies having a field day.
It's basically misinformation 101.
You just described the history of government involvement in UFOs.
It's interesting that there's been such outrage over Windows 10's snooping, especially considering that many wildly popular proprietary programs have already been doing this for years. For instance, in 2007 Slashdot reported that Skype reads your /etc/passwd file and Firefox profile; who knows how it uses this data or where it gets sent.
The real problem here isn't Windows 10 in particular, it's running proprietary software in general. With proprietary software it's almost impossible for the average user, and usually very difficult even for experts, to discover and mitigate against privacy violations and security holes. Free software puts up no artificial barriers to security and privacy audits; any competent programmer can check the code herself, and any concerned layperson can delegate a trusted programmer to do so (or read existing reports from programmers or journalists they trust).
Use a local account instead of a Microsoft account.
That alone will disable various 'features' such as Cortana.
As for the other options to disable, they can be found here:
https://fix10.isleaked.com/
Finally, if you wish to reject Microsoft's cloud and mobile ambitions completely, run Powershell as administrator and Remove -AppxPackage every preinstalled Metro crap.
https://thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog/delete-windows-10-apps/
Name one. please.
tip:
libc handles dns resolution in linux.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
Or better yet they could implement a switch that will halt the flow entirely, a shiny red 'get off my ass' button. That would solve it, that would sate.
The problem here is the company behind the OS and their Orwellian privacy ideas.
You can block entire IP ranges, disable services and smoulder half the registry. If they are serious about collecting this information, expect CDN servers to start taking up slack in random cities, small server providers way outside the firing line. They will find a way to get past your firewall restrictions, until you're left with nothing but an isolated machine.
You can disable and remove all you want from the core system, if you're using Windows Updates, they've won. The regular user won't have the know how to reverse engineer every update, or won't keep in the loop on critical security updates to make sure he at least turns Windows Update on once. Not everyone will be running a Enterprise version, apart from actual corporate and pirate users.
They have the ability to modify anything they want via WU. How long will your sanity last battling against the Microsoft gestalt?
This needs to be solved in a court, in a way that can make an impact on a multinational company. If not, then you're just living on a prayer, hoping that you've figured out every packet that's leaving the machine.
So, if the USG and their business partners know these things about me:
1) My grandpa was Japanese, but my Dad was born in America. :)
2) As loyal Americans, we filled out the census in 1940.
3) Eat fish instead of beef.
4) Dad owns a small boat and a bit of land on the coast that might be worth something someday.
5) (Okay, we've always been weird about that, even before you nuked my ancestors fair-and-square
In what way am I harmed? What are they going to do with this information?
Seriously, dude. This is Slashdot. Code is law. But the converse is also true. Look back 20 years and ask yourself about things that were unacceptable then that are acceptable now -- and vice versa. Now look forward 20 years. You don't know whether the Republicans are correct and the Gay Furry Mafia will take over, banning heterosexual contact without a fursuit, or if the Democrats are correct and Margaret Atwood's dystopian Republic of Gilead will be regarded as a HOWTO.
As we've learned with every breach from the Office of Personnel Management to the Ashley Madison hack, the only way to secure your person is to secure your data, and the only way to secure your data is to keep it away from the fucking cloud in the first place.
Oh, you mean like my Windows 8.1 tablet gets a daily update to the English keyboard, which I keep telling it to hide (but since it's a new update every day, with the same name, it doesn't help), even though I never use the English keyboard (only Danish), I just have no option to uninstall the English keyboard.
Doesn't sound better to me.
I think the problem is that MS isn't being completely clear as to what it is they're collecting
This is a serious problem, indeed.
or why they're collecting it
This is not. If by "why" you mean "the reason", then the answer is obvious: because they want it. It cannot be for any other reason. If you mean "for what purpose", then the answer is obvious too: for anything they want. No matter what they think they will use it now, once they have your data they can decide later to do anything.
All in all, the "why" is *the* problem, not being clear about it is not.
I don't see how they could be clearer on what and why they are collecting:
1. They are collecting what ever they want, including all files they want.
2. They are using that data as they like, including sharing it with who ever they want, especially if they have good faith reason* to assume you are a pirate terrorists.
* See: Original Sin.
So basically no downside to disabling these options then!
Twinstiq, game news
Guess you haven't seen the latest Windows 10 install base figures...
If M$ is not clear about what there are doing; This is clearly because they want to make money with your data; with your behavior; Selling ads, selling where you are, selling what you are doing... Now you are still buying the OS, and you are the 'product' too. Fascinating!!!
Are there any sufficient FLOSS firewalls that can block all of the reporting back to Microsoft for Windows 7, 8, and 10, without breaking the automatic updates?
"How To Keep Microsoft's Nose Out of Your Personal Data In Windows 10"
Don't install that obnoxious piece of spyware in the first place !
Simple, job done.
You can configure Zonealarm to alert you when programs attempt to send traffic out. When Windows 10 tries to phone home, disallow it from doing so. Problem solved.
SUBDOMAINS/DOMAINS/HOSTNAMES INVOLVED:
choice.microsoft.com
choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
df.telemetry.microsoft.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
pre.footprintpredict.com
redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com
survey.watson.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
telemetry.appex.bing.net
telemetry.appex.bing.net:443
telemetry.microsoft.com
telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
vortex.data.microsoft.com
vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
watson.live.com
watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
STOPPING THE SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH IT:
run cmd as administrator
sc stop Diagtrack
sc delete Diagtrack
SCHEDULED TASKS ASSOCIATED WITH IT:
Everything under "Application Experience"
Everything under "Autochk"
Everything under "Customer Experience Improvement Program"
Under "Disk Diagnostic" only the "Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector"
Under "Maintenance" "WinSAT"
"Media Center" and click the "status" column, then select all non-disabled entries and disable them.
*services.msc:
"Remote Registry" to "Disabled" instead of "Manual".
THE UPDATES THAT CAUSE THIS (allegedly on Win7 too):
KB2505438 (Although it claims to fix performance issues, it often breaks fonts)
KB2670838 (This update often breaks AERO on Windows 7 and makes some fonts on websites fuzzy. A Windows 7 specific update only, do not install IE10 or 11 otherwise it will be bundled with them, IE9 is the max version you should install to avoid this.
KB2952664 (Windows 10 Upgrade preparation)
KB2976978 (Windows 10 Upgrade preparation)
KB2977759 (Windows 10 Upgrade preparation)
KB2990214 (Windows 10 Upgrade preparation)
KB3021917 (Windows 10 Upgrade preparatioon + Telemetry)
KB3022345 (Telemetry)
KB3035583 (Windows 10 upgrade preparation)
KB3044374
KB3068708 (Telemetry)
KB3075249 (Telemetry)
KB3080149 (Telemetry)
APK
P.S.=> I've gathered that mostly from here (/. folks who checked as YOU did, good job), this report by Czech folks -> http://localghost.org/posts/a-... & this article also http://www.infoworld.com/artic... THAT LAST ONE IMO IS EVEN MORE INTERESTING THAN THE FIRST ONE, as it involves Win7 too...
... apk
Hey APK, I have a (legitimate) question for you:
... this is why I am still using adblock too (as it can do it). I'd rather just do it with hosts, can you show me how?
You know more about host files than I do (I have a couple dozen entries in mine, but nothing like what you do), so I'm hoping you can answer: If something I wish to block uses an IP rather than a url (like http://123.123.123.123/ad/nowy... vs http://littlebastards.com/ad/n...), can I block that in my hosts? If I can, I haven't figured out how
I'm not trolling, this is a legitimate question from someone who admittedly doesn't know a whole heck of a lot about host files.
Posting anon only because OT.
I'm solving this by installing Scientific Linux 7.1. Why fight the OS and the OS vendor? That doesn't make any sense to me...
Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3
You clearly haven't used Windows 10 yet. Or Windows 8/8.1...
Cortana comes disable initially, there's a dozen or so privacy options, and it's clearly explained the differences in a Microsoft vs Local account.
Here, LMGTFY (sadly doesn't work with image search):
https://www.google.ca/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1312&bih=750&q=windows+10+privacy+settings&oq=windows+10+privacy+settings&gs_l=img.3..0.1277.5747.0.5835.27.24.0.0.0.0.185.2344.19j5.24.0....0...1.1.64.img..3.24.2315.JwkDwola4Qw
"I know it's rigged, but it's the only game in town." - Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II, 19th century con artist, saloon and gambling house proprietor, gangster, and crime boss.
You cannot sign away your rights, especially under duress ("You can't use this SW unless you agree to relinquishing your right to XYZ.") which is only one of the reasons why EULAs are at least problematic as far as being legally enforceable.
Log onto Windows with an underage Microsoft account. This should disable most if not all of the data collection. My 12yo son laments the fact that Cortana won't talk to him as MS cannot legally collect tracking information on Child accounts.
I think if MS were to put out a well-thought out announcement telling people why it is they're doing this, a lot of the paranoia would go away.
So you are saying that a Microsoft announcement would make Slashdot less paranoid. :-)
It would help some people, but there would still be paranoia.
Also, what would the blogs use for click - bait if they couldn't say that Microsoft was being evil?
Microsoft sure is getting a lot of hate for what Google has been doing for years.
X
"into a smartphone wannabe."
Agreed, even Super SKYPE Cortana Smartphone.
Cheers.
End of Line.
If you're just another sheep, you can't see the slaughter for the forest....
I'm not saying some ex-M$ employee will blackmail you, or screw with you (the way some of my Clients got leeched from ex blizzard techs)
But they have no business knowing who, where, what and why you are to sell that information to whoever has the money.
It's more who gets the information in the end for you than the fact they are gathering it.
For us it's the brazen disregard for our rights.
You'll get it by the time it's too late.
Here are a few ways to accomplish it. They make use of the HOSTS file and registry settings among other techniques. (Disclosure: I'm a retired Microsoft Senior Technical Writer, i.e., I know enough not to trust them). http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/...
How is this different than any other mobile device or even a laptop from any major vendor.
Each one has to at least call home with what hardware it is and your unique serial to get updates. Each phone these days has a voice assistant and GPS that tracks you even if you turn off GPS (sure it's less accurate, but it still does so)... Each browser has an search autocomplete that sends keystrokes to some online service.
Windows has the balls to tell you what information they're getting and why.
As it stands, my windows 10 (upgraded from Windows 8, upgraded from Vista) machine currently has just two live connections:
one to an "msnbot" over https (lol, good luck trying to packet analyse encrypted content, what kind of stupid idiot would assume connections with private information isn't encrypted?) and one other numerical IP address (traced to MSN.net servers, also https).
I turned some of the options off, but not all and left live tiles running. Not sure how people are still getting dozens of connections to MSN servers...
Remove these patches. Disable the "recommended"patches in Windows update. Run another update, and if any of these return, set them to ignore.
KB 3035583 (primary nagware for Windows 10)
KB 2952664
KB 2976978
KB 2990214 (Windows 10 upgrade)
KB 3021917 (Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program)
KB 3022345
KB 3035583
KB 3044374 (Windows 10 upgrade)
KB 3068708 (update for CEIP and telemetry)
KB 3075249 (telemetry)
KB 3080149 (update for CEIP and telemetry)
im not worried about microsoft knowing that i occasionally fap to shemale porn, hell, google already knows that, but the update system is evil, i dont want them installing device drivers automatically if i already have a driver installed, thats just WRONG man
Dear Microsoft,
You've SHOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT on Win10 like VISTA & Win8 - "good job boys" (not).
Ballmer spent MILLIONS on advertising networks & lost on it - so much for HIS dreams of being an "advertising power" (he's a FOOL) like Google!
Man couldn't even get THAT right!
(King Billy made a WRONG choice in you boy (& he knows it) - thanks for devaluing Windows - probably for "buy back" to create an ILLUSION of 'growth'))!
FACT: your OWN VP of Windows Client Performance Division AGREED w/ me on this one (after 12/08/2009 Windows updates, the removal of 0 as a valid blocking address in Win7 onward (still works in 2000/XP/Server 2003 though) vs. the larger & slower to parse/load from disk 0.0.0.0 + especially vs. even SLOWER larger 127.0.0.1 loopback adapter address) here on /. in a discussion w/ me -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
I wrote the also (like Ballmer) departed Sinofsky on this in his "Building Windows 8" blog - no change occurred to correct it!
No, instead, what did MS do?
Attack hosts files via Windows Defender in VISTA/8!
* Hey Microsoft? In the end mark my words here??
YOU PEOPLE ARE F'ING YOURSELVES!
Trying to shovel shit folks do NOT want down their throats (stupid interface, disabling browser addons & hosts), telling them "Want to know what's good for you? LET US TELL YOU!" never, EVER works - good businesses give customers what THEY want - you've lost sight of that & it will END you - only a matter of time. Makes me sad: You're taking a GREAT THING, largest programming artifact in existence afaik, & ruining it... for what?? "GOLDEN DREAMS OF GREED" - don't you folks already have all the money you could ever want? Guess not (that's the problem w/ guys w/ 2" penises boys)...
APK
P.S.=> Lastly: Folks 1st upmodded this here & trolls downmod it 2x -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen... & http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
(Tells anyone WORLDS trying a downmod to try "hide" my posts (which only spoke truth)) - apk
Dear Microsoft,
You've SHOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT on Win10 like VISTA & Win8 - "good job boys" (not).
Ballmer spent MILLIONS on advertising networks & lost on it - so much for HIS dreams of being an "advertising power" (he's a FOOL) like Google!
Man couldn't even get THAT right!
(King Billy made a WRONG choice in you boy (& he knows it) - thanks for devaluing Windows - probably for "buy back" to create an ILLUSION of 'growth'))!
FACT: your OWN VP of Windows Client Performance Division AGREED w/ me on this one (after 12/08/2009 Windows updates, the removal of 0 as a valid blocking address in Win7 onward (still works in 2000/XP/Server 2003 though) vs. the larger & slower to parse/load from disk 0.0.0.0 + especially vs. even SLOWER larger 127.0.0.1 loopback adapter address) here on /. in a discussion w/ me -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
I wrote the also (like Ballmer) departed Sinofsky on this in his "Building Windows 8" blog - no change occurred to correct it!
No, instead, what did MS do?
Attack hosts files via Windows Defender in VISTA/8!
* Hey Microsoft? In the end mark my words here??
YOU PEOPLE ARE F'ING YOURSELVES!
Trying to shovel shit folks do NOT want down their throats (stupid interface, disabling browser addons & hosts), telling them "Want to know what's good for you? LET US TELL YOU!" never, EVER works - good businesses give customers what THEY want - you've lost sight of that & it will END you - only a matter of time. Makes me sad: You're taking a GREAT THING, largest programming artifact in existence afaik, & ruining it... for what?? "GOLDEN DREAMS OF GREED" - don't you folks already have all the money you could ever want? Guess not (that's the problem w/ guys w/ 2" penises boys)...
APK
P.S.=> Lastly: Folks 1st upmodded this here & trolls downmod it 2x -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen... & http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
(Tells anyone WORLDS trying a downmod to try "hide" my posts (which only spoke truth)) - apk
Well, here the UFOs were most likely just some secret projects like U2 and the like. Which were Unidentified Flying Objects, so...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I shutter to think at what will be mined from the Windows 10 mobile update. Is there any hope of this being less open to Microsoft since Data rates apply and the FCC is involved?
> I think if MS were to put out a well-thought out announcement telling people why it is they're doing this, a lot of the paranoia would go away.
Too late, as far as I'm concerned.
How To Keep Microsoft's Nose Out of Your Personal Data In Windows 10?
The only way I know for preventing MS from accessing your personal data for their own purpose is to not install MS software.
Then use this list.
Uhh yeah..about that? those are like the button at a stoplight, makes ya feel good but don't do shit...didn't ya get the memo? Unless you set up a hardware router with IP based blocking and block a shitload of IP addresses then everything you do is getting sent to the mothership whether you like it or not.
You didn't think you'd get anything "free" from MSFT, did you? Hell its the most expensive version of Windows EVAR as not only do you trade a legit key from a non spyware version of Windows but you ALSO give them your data for sale, so you get to double pay for that "free" OS...hell of a scam,huh?
Out of all the people who responded to my comment here http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7911631&cid=50399165
I'll respond here. Really, this shit should be put on the front page of Slashdot maybe some old school readers would actually be interested.
That link hairyfeet added above is the last piece of the puzzle. The Czech guy checked here http://localghost.org/posts/a-traffic-analysis-of-windows-10
In that article is this:
Information transmitted
All text typed on the keyboard is stored in temporary files, and sent (once per 30 mins) to:
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
pre.footprintpredict.com
reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
Ok so you look for whois nsatc.net
NSATC.NET - Domain Informationnew
Domain NSATC.NET [ Site Info Traceroute RBL/DNSBL lookup ]
Registrar MARKMONITOR INC. MarkMonitor, Inc.
Registrar URL http://www.markmonitor.com
Whois server whois.markmonitor.com
Created 27-Sep-2001
Updated 01-Dec-2014
Expires 27-Sep-2015
Time Left 30 days 0 hours 4 minutes
Status clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited clientUpdateProhibited (https://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited) clientTransferProhibited (https://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited) clientDeleteProhibited (https://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited)
DNS servers A.NS.NSATC.NET 199.93.44.45
B.NS.NSATC.NET 8.12.212.49
C.NS.NSATC.NET 64.152.2.44
D.NS.NSATC.NET 205.128.93.51
E.NS.NSATC.NET 212.187.162.134
G.NS.NSATC.NET 205.128.88.25
L.NS.NSATC.NET 8.255.48.47
g.ns.nsatc.net 205.128.88.25
e.ns.nsatc.net 212.187.162.134
d.ns.nsatc.net 205.128.93.51
a.ns.nsatc.net 199.93.44.45
b.ns.nsatc.net 8.12.212.49
l.ns.nsatc.net 8.255.48.47
c.ns.nsatc.net 64.152.2.44
Now who is MarkMonitor, Inc?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MarkMonitor
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/everything-you-need-know-about-piracy-battling-copyright-alert-system
https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-trackers-ban-windows-10-over-privacy-concerns-150822/
Ok so what happened? Microsoft took consumers money for decades of virus-laden shitware. Botnets, anti-virus suites, ransomware, all that shit.... you bought it hook line and sinker. They profited. Now they used the money consumers gave them to hire career lawyers. World gov's said hey, what the fuck? Anti-trust, etc.. then they started fuckin.
You will want to uninstall your Windows 10 "The Spyware of all Spywares Edition" because the only anti-virus that will work is Linux or other *nix.
If you installed Windows 10 because of lies about being free, or DX12, your homework is:
https://www.google.com/#q=roll+back+windows+10
You have 30 days after you took the spyware upgrade to roll back or it self-deletes the backup files.
You may or may not decide to keep any Windows at all... bu
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report/?url=www.microsoft.com
Running on Linux.
http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report/?url=www.nsatc.net
NSATC.NET - Domain Informationnew
Domain NSATC.NET [ Site Info Traceroute RBL/DNSBL lookup ]
Registrar MARKMONITOR INC. MarkMonitor, Inc.
Registrar URL http://www.markmonitor.com
Whois server whois.markmonitor.com
Created 27-Sep-2001
Updated 01-Dec-2014
Expires 27-Sep-2015
Time Left 30 days 0 hours 4 minutes
Running on ??? But look... 30 days. Time to renew huh. :D
How is this different than any other mobile device or even a laptop from any major vendor.
Two reasons:
1) Because it's a PC, not a purely consumption device like a phone or tablet.
2) Because others spying doesn't mean you should.
Windows doesn't tell you shit about what information its sending. Everything is purposefully as vague as possible so that they can get away with harvesting whatever information they want.
Also, a packet analyser can show you that data is leaving your system and where it's being sent to. Not being able to decrypt that data is irrelevant.
When you grow up and your life involves more than video games and Facebook, you'll understand. Many of us adults use our computers for more than consumption.
I'm with Windows since 3.11, had all versions. I'm also professionally MCSE/MCITP.. blablabla.. so really invested in the company... I was totally fine with Millennium. Vista was slow, I had good hardware at the moment, so it was alright for me. Put effort to like Metro on 8.1, sucks... (sigh) but I had to keep up with progress... Did upgrade to 10 few days back. But this ends here.... The last callback\telemetry MS will have from my home PC is that I'm downloading Ubuntu 14.04 and Universal USB installer.
I'm sorry, but going off half cocked screaming doom and destruction without any real evidence to back up your claims just makes you look like a tinfoil hat wearing idiot. I'm so sick of the tools here who seem to think evidence is only necessary when it contradicts their opinion. You people make us all look bad.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
There is a user over on voat.co that has made a VBS+Batch Script that blocks the suspected windows 7/8 updates that add the tracking and telemetry "features". A breakdown of the what updates are blocked are listed and since is VBS and a Batch file, you can check the internals of the tool (aptly named "Aegis") yourself. https://voat.co/v/technology/comments/459263/new
"Biggness Does Not Equal Greatness" -- Adam West
Your Uncle Samuel.
See subject - & use this command (in Windows' ping @ least):
ping -a (insert ip address here)
E.G.-> ping -a 216.34.181.45
(YIELDS BACK slashdot.org)
APK
P.S.=> Lastly: My hosts file program does that for you, in its "Speedup Favorite Sites" tab pictured here -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...
(You supply it that list of favorites, where YOU spend MOST OF YOUR TIME ONLINE mind you, so they resolve faster than calling out to remote DNS servers which MAY be redirect poisoned mind you, since my program places them @ the TOP of your custom hosts file, for best speed from ram where it will be cached)... apk
See subject - AND, so you know: Not all servers reply to pings either (that can be set @ server level via EnableICMPRedirect , which can be used as a security measure vs. attacks).
* For the majority though? That command will work...
APK
P.S.=> If you're a *NIX user, I *think* "dig" requests can do the job for you, but don't quote me on it... apk
In addition to my other replies to you, see subject: That can take 24 hrs. or so...
APK
P.S.=> Good luck, hope that was of some assistance to you... apk