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Apple, Microsoft Tout Their Privacy Policies To Get Positive PR
jfruh writes: Apple hasn't changed its privacy policy in more than a year — but that didn't stop the company from putting up a glossy website explaining it in layman's terms. Microsoft too has been touting its respect for its users's privacy. This doesn't represent any high-minded altruism on those companies' parts, of course; it's part of their battle against Google, their archrival that offers almost all of its services for free and makes its money mining user data.
Windows Phone:
- No way to use GPS locally without sending location to Microsoft
- No way to use WiFi locally without forced participation in location crowd sourcing
- No way to practically use device / install software without a Microsoft account
- No way to prevent windows phone with Microsoft account from transmitting location data to Microsoft
- No way to maintain a local address book without having it all automatically sent to Microsoft
- No way to prevent device specific identifiers from being sent (in the clear I might add) to Microsoft servers.
Windows:
- No way to prevent transmission of telemetry (Windows 10 non-enterprise SKUs)
- No way to prevent connections to MS servers (vortext, data, settings) when everything CEIP, updates, everything has been completely disabled (Windows 7)
- No way to disable automatic updates (Windows 10)
- No way to prevent CRL queries when CRL checking has been disabled (Windows 7)
- No user reachable knobs to disable mostly annoying and counterproductive NLA queries
- Disrespectful defaults and intentional UX elements such as misleading appearance of MS account requirement to trick people into using a MS account to access their local systems (windows 10)
Lies applicable to TFA:
"In the past, Windows could be thought of as software existing only on your device. Now with Windows 10, important parts of Windows are based in the cloud, interacting with online services"
This is non-specific BS to setup excuses for unacceptable privacy violations enumerated later in TFA.
"When you communicate with your friends, family, and business associates, like text messaging (SMS, MMS, etc.) on a Windows device, we have to get the content of the message to deliver it to your inbox, display it to you, enable you to reply to it, and store it for you until you delete it."
I'll leave this nonsense speak for itself.
"For real-time communications, a phone-calling app needs to know the phone number of the contact you want to reach. "
This is priceless because the calling app does not have a local store. What it really effectively means if you want to call anyone Microsoft needs to know the number.
"If you lose your phone, you can locate your Windows phone on a map using Find My Phone at https://account.microsoft.com.... Even if you have turned off all other access to the location service on the phone, this feature can still work. "
This is the problem there is no effective way to opt out even up front when initially setting up the device. The only possible option is to not associate a MS account which effectively renders the device a brick/feature phone.
FWIW, I went through the exact same thing two months ago. Non-technical wife (accountant), never used anything but Windows on the desktop/laptop. I didn't want to go balls deep with a brand new MBP in case she hated it so I picked up a 2010 version for a few hundred off Ebay.
Installed Yosemite and bought an old copy of Office for Mac 2008 for $25 so she can run Excel. Then set up Virtualbox with Windows XP just to run her ancient version of Quicken until she can transition to a native Mac version at the start of next year (hopefully finding something she can use besides Intuit). Just told her to click on the cube.
Bottom line is she loves it. I was really afraid that Finder and the apps bar would be too different for comfort but that turned out not to be the case. She knows her documents are in the Documents folder and which icons to click for apps (mail, pictures, browser), and that manipulating files involves the apple key. Time Machine is intuitive enough where she can manage file recovery herself, and I get the benefit of brainless automatic backups to the NAS.
So credit needs to be given where's it's due; there's something about Apple that just fits perfectly with average users. And at this point I honestly do feel that Apple is the least of all evils for privacy now. So the time was right.
Hope your experience turns out to be the same!