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Microsoft Removes Wi-Fi Sense Feature From Windows 10 Which Shared Your Wi-Fi Password
Microsoft says it has removed the controversial Wi-Fi Sense feature that shared a user's password with their friends and people in the contact list. "We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts," says Microsoft's Gabe Aul. "The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment." Ben Woods, writing for The Next Web: The feature allows you to share Wi-Fi login information with friends automatically via your contacts, however it got a controversial reception due to privacy implications. Do you really want to share your Wi-Fi codes with everyone in your contacts? No, of course not. It seems that was the general response from users too, so that option will be removed in the upcoming Windows 10 Insider Preview update, Microsoft says. Public Wi-Fi login info will remain in the app though.
... the fact of that matter is that this level of data reporting has been included in the three prior versions of Windows.
[citation_needed]
The telemetry nonsense was included in Windows 10 and then backported to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 not all that long ago. That was also a scuzzy move, and implying that the tracking's been there all along and nobody cared is flat out wrong.
The messages use a variety of misleading text. For example, my wife was tricked into upgrading to Windows10 because after clicking "no thanks" a certain number of times, it eventually asked her "do you want to upgrade to Windows 10 now, or later?" and she clicked "later", meaning "never", but it installed it later that day, assuming it had permission.
if you want to argue that TECHNICALLY she agreed to install it, fine, but in my opinion when a major avenue of adoption is tricking its users into installing it, that is pretty much the definition of evil.
i could live a little longer in this prison
The messages use a variety of misleading text. For example, my wife was tricked into upgrading to Windows10 because after clicking "no thanks" a certain number of times, it eventually asked her "do you want to upgrade to Windows 10 now, or later?"
Nope. Your wife or someone else WAY back comitted to doing the upgrade. They clicked, "yes I want to install the upgrade when its available; reserve it now and let me know when its ready" or something along those lines.
THAT was the opt-in or opt-out.
Everything AFTER that, all those "Do you want to complete your upgrade to windows 10 now?" boxes your wife declined for the last few months ... it wasn't asking permission to install wiindows 10. It was asking to COMPLETE the installation of windows 10 that had ALREADY been requested.
And yeah, like any other windows update that microsoft downloads and applies and needs a reboot; it prompts you to reboot, and if you decline long enough; eventually it forces the issue. "Complete and reboot now, or in a couple hours"
Its like Adobe Reader asking to install an update. When you click 'go' it does its thing. When its finished and prompts for a reboot ... "now or later" are your only options. The update has already been committed. You can't look at that 'nor or later" and lament that Adobe is forcing itself on you... "Now or Later" and cry evil. Well... I guess you can do just that, because you are doing just that.
But its not really accurate.
You or someone did agree to the upgrade at the very beginning. And everything after that was just a question of when you wanted to finalize the installation. Same as any other windows update you've ever done.
That said I agree with you its clumsy, and the way microsoft hooked it up to the windows update system, which treats it much the same as any other update that needs a reboot was poorly thought out. I agree that it really should give you a final opt-out / cancel just before it finalizes. But it didn't force you into the install; its just forcing you to finish the install you already started. At least it offers an easy rollback.
Nope. Your wife or someone else WAY back comitted to doing the upgrade. They clicked, "yes I want to install the upgrade when its available; reserve it now and let me know when its ready" or something along those lines.
It's still a bait-and-switch. I had initially opted into that, before it was known that they were going to have all the telemetry and other assorted bullshit in the final version. So naturally, I wanted to later opt out of it.