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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.
How about removing all the so-called 'telemetry' and other privacy-invading malware bullshit and return control of peoples' computers to the people who own and operate them? Or will not being assholes cut into your profit margin too much?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Now that Microsoft knows 90% of its users' wireless passwords, We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature
Okay, fine. We'll remove this feature. But not because everyone flipped their shit and hated it. The only reason we're removing it is because it was cost effective to do so. If we could have found a way to profit off of it, you can bet your pimply ass that it would still be in there and on by default.
A lot of folks I know have their password in a QR code.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
... so that option will be removed in the upcoming Windows 10
Of course, we'll keep *collecting* that information ... 'cause it's Windows 10, which is all about data collection. /cynical
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Oh! That's an awesome idea. I need to put one of those up by my front door.
No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
A lot of folks I know have their password in a QR code.
Oh! That's an awesome idea. I need to put one of those up by my front door.
Just leave your house key at the door so they can just go read the password off the post-it -- we all -- have taped to the bottom of the router.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
This is why I love Slashdot. People (like you) are obsessed with comically niche features like IP over Firewire, which is utterly irrelevant, and yet you're too blind to reality to realize it. The last time I saw a thread complaining about Windows there was a similar post saying Windows absolutely MUST include built-in ssh. It's like you people are being willfully ignorant of how the end-user market actually works.
hi
Honestly, I thought this was a very useful feature for small businesses that had wifi with a simple password.
I noticed quite a few friends had the same idea as me, because I would go into a new coffee shop and my laptop could connect right away because one of my friends already checked the wifi sense box.
Now, I know no one that did this on their home network. However, for networks like a coffee shop or hotel, it is great.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
Subject says it all. Somebody didn't think the least bit about the implications of generally sharing private passwords.
Obviously I meant inside and I've never written down a password in my life since not all of us are idiots?
Also, I don't really understand why everyone even secures their wifi. I leave guest mode open. You can use my bandwidth and my devices are fairly secured against attack already.
No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
Well, if you don't secure the WiFi, you're broadcasting all your packets in plain text.
Don't look at WPA2 as access control only, it's also providing channel encryption.
Guest networks (isolated from the main one) are a nice idea but they should be secured anyway for the sake of the guests.
Many parts of the release (more than just the WiFi Sense note) read as if they are Bing translations from Elbonian ...
"Troll?" Is that a joke? If anyone is a troll it's the guy who suggested IP OVER FIREWIRE, ffs, is a relevant feature large numbers of people need or want.
hi
What happened to the story that just was here a few moments about NASA releasing a bunch of previously-patented technologies?
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bt0-T-YmkL0J:https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/05/11/1546231/nasa-releases-56-patents-into-the-public-domain-for-commercial-use+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
http://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-releases-56-patents-into-the-public-domain/
A fascinating story, especially the multiplayer VR alpha-wave-biofeedback game idea.
Actually if the router is visible then an e-ink display showing a qr code would be updatable and work great.
Actually that is a good initial security set up too. The code can be randomized at initial boot of the access point. Once a master password is created the display can be used for one time passwords that last for X hours as determined in the settings. The master password works all the time.
So your devices can get online all the time but new temporary 12-24 hour passwords are created daily for guests.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Huh. I had assumed that channel encryption would be auto negotiated or something. Should have realized the default would be no security. Thanks!
No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
Holy crap, how do you know that? Were you in my house?
I'm sorry, but what if (that's a big "IF" there but bear with me) I bought Windows 10 because I *wanted* this particular feature? Microsoft is just going to "update" it out anyway?
I understand Windows 10 is more of a rolling release than previous versions were, but this is insane. Are they going to "update" out things that I bought from the Windows Store because they weren't terribly popular as well? Imagine if you took your car in for maintenance and they took out your parking camera because nobody used it....
I think it's because he uttered blasphemy against SSH.
Get's them out of liability issues with that.
Obviously I meant inside and I've never written down a password in my life since not all of us are idiots? Also, I don't really understand why everyone even secures their wifi. I leave guest mode open. You can use my bandwidth and my devices are fairly secured against attack already.
Two questions.
1) May have your address please? I have spam campaign I'd like to launch an since you're so generous with your Internet access...
2) Who would like to pick the over/under date for when this trusting soul has his "fairly secured" shit pwned?
Dude. We are well past the point in time where your behavior moved from "generous" to irresponsible. Lock down your fucking WLAN.
I didn't think you were trolling, but alas, I have no points today. Just wanted to check on the second sentence though. I think you meant irrelevant.
Get it? No Sense. Nevermind...
So, people complain when dupe stories show up. And now people complain when Slashdot removes them. Why don't we get the anti-dup people and the anti-delete people together in a room to fight it out and determine once and for all how this will be handled.
Yeah, that is crazy. I use NetBIOS over twisted pair.
There were many many reasons this was a bad idea. "Crowdsourcing" the trust in random access points is stupid, unless you have verified that all your friends have adequate security. Ie, I have a friend who does stupid stuff all the time, things like joining wifi at restaurants or coffee shops, trusting that Yelp tells the truth, installing every app ever invented, etc. I would not trust his recommendations that a wifi access point is safe, ever. Enter the password once and that's the end of it.
And yet so many PC web sites were gushing about this feature (as they are paid to do), telling everyone that it's not as bad as it looks, and yet Microsoft still pulls it. Not publicly admitting their mistake but phrasing it as "too much effort for the few customers who weren't paranoid enough".
Security is the opposite of convenience. This is why many companies have lousy security because they don't want to inconvenience customers, and even corporate alliance standards can water down security because they want their products to be popular.
Who would have thought that there is low demand for a "feature" that broadcasts your passwords to others?
Hey, MS, allow me to let you in on a secret: There's also really low demand for the thousand "apps" that nobody needs, can't be uninstalled and take up unnecessary space on the drive and the start menu (where you ALSO cannot get rid of them), and there is really low demand for updates we can't turn off.
Maybe you could discover this great revelation next?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Heh... There's a guest channel, specifically for company, at my home. You can use it all you want. I'm probably going to notice you, so you might as well come in for a drink.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
This is why I love Slashdot. People (like you) are obsessed with comically niche features like IP over Firewire, which is utterly irrelevant, and yet you're too blind to reality to realize it.
This is why I love Slashdot. People (like you) are obsessed with cherry picking comments of random posters to establish (insert trend/meme here) is a real sentiment shared by some undisclosed subset of "you people".
that's login persistence, thank you very much.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Right, all of those "friends". I'm sure you used it literally two's of times.
It was rather useful for device-to-device networking - direct connection at 400 or 800Mbps. I think the bigger complaint was that it was simply dropped when other consumer operating systems still support it. However, if he's still complaining about something that was dropped ten years ago, it's time to move on to a different OS if he's that bound to it.
SSH, on the other hand - that's my single biggest feature request for Windows....
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
AM i the only one that sees QR codes as a massive potential security issue? I never run them on my pocket computer. I dont know why i would want to.
Good-bye
And nothing of value was lost. Seriously. Stop with the spam. It's annoying and off topic.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
Most people I've seen using 8, 8.1 and Win10 are using online accounts because MS makes it hard figure out how to get around it when setting up a new system.
Wifi password? You gave them root, the system stores wifi passwords in plain text right out in the open.
The problem wasn't so much that you could share access to your network with your friends - it was that if you gave your WiFi password to someone (which what the majority of people do when they visit someone elses house) then you had to make sure that they didn't share access to your network with their friends.
The problem is that Microsoft cannot differentiate between someone who has the WiFi password because they own the connection and someone who has the WiFi password because they were told it. Microsoft made the assumption that if you have the password, then you have the right to offer that connection to others - but this is not what happens in the "real world".
Because of this incorrect assumption, the onus was suddenly placed on the owner of the WiFi (who does decide to provide their password) to police the entry of it into Windows 10 devices to ensure that a bunch of random people that they have never met aren't suddenly allowed to use their network.
That was why it was an issue.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
The parallel port support they removed for good in Windows 10 is more common than this.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Glad they stopped collecting WiFi Passwords. What will they do with the one already collected? Can we expect a leak soon so that we know what accounts need a password reset?
We know that Microsoft has paid shills. The game is to figure out who they are. The hard part is that so many naive people are rabid Microsoft fans, refusing to believe that their heroes can do anything wrong, or younger engineers who have been in the Windows monoculture since birth and so lack relevant breadth of experience.
Does a sockpuppet by any other name sound as shrill?
Two Words: Persona Management
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
C'mon over. You're gonna need to sit in the driveway or come inside. My home is 24 miles from the village and at the end of a 1/2 mile drive. Your cantenna isn't going to cut it. So, when they come looking I'll be able to see the logs and say, "Ah ha! I know who it was. In fact, here's my firewall logs. No, you can have those without a warrant, fuck that guy."
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I use my voicemail number as my wifi password (my cell service has voicemail disabled; just knowing my cell number does not mean you get to leave me a message, you have to have the other number [that forwards to my cell - Google Voice] to leave a message if I don't answer). Anyone I like well enough to give that number to is welcome on my private network. This may change when I move, but is how I've done it for ~10 years.
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
The reader I use ("QR Code Reader" on Android) tells me what it says before giving me the option of executing it or not. I assumed they all did.
QR coding moving boxes is a great way to not have to cut boxes open to see what's inside without having it written on the outside for all to see (it has a link to a password protected page).
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
I didn't notice - I've been using PuTTY for so long, I no longer care about native SSH.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Microsoft is being cowardly here. Most people want seamless Internet access sharing with their contacts. Most people do not want automatic intranet access sharing, and that needs to be addressed with technical solutions. People who want to opt out should have this option, but default should meet needs of an average user. By bailing out, Microsoft is showing corporate conformity rather than brilliance.