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Microsoft Shares Windows 10 Telemetry Data With Third Parties (betanews.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: To help with the smooth running of Windows 10, and to get an idea of how users interact with the operating system, Microsoft collects telemetry data, which includes information on the device Windows 10 is running on, a list of installed apps, crash dumps, and more. Telemetry data recorded by Windows 10 is, in a nutshell, just technical information about the device the OS is on, and how Windows and any installed software is performing, but it can occasionally include personal information. If you're worried about that, the news that Microsoft is sharing telemetry data with third parties might concern you. Microsoft recently struck a deal with security firm FireEye to provide access to Windows 10 telemetry data, in exchange for having FireEye's iSIGHT Threat Intelligence technology included in its Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection service. WDATP is an enterprise security product that helps enterprises detect, investigate, and respond to advanced attacks on their networks and is different from the free version of Windows Defender. The upsides of the deal are obvious for both Microsoft and FireEye, and enterprise customers will certainly benefit from the partnership. It's not known exactly what data Microsoft has made available to FireEye, but in a detailed TechNet article on its telemetry gathering the software giant originally said: "Microsoft may share business reports with OEMs and third party partners that include aggregated and anonymized telemetry information. Data-sharing decisions are made by an internal team including privacy, legal, and data management."
...not really, you buy their product and then they sell you as a product.
Duh.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
If it were up to me, stories about Windows spyware would be in the news constantly. Why shouldn't it be? Do you want people to forget that it's there?
That means they would have to loudly announce they have a spyware version.
As it is, the vast majority of people don't know Windows is sharing their data. They just know Windows 10 forced itself on to their computer and kinda sucks.
If you're worried about that, the news that Microsoft is sharing telemetry data with third parties might concern you.
I'm worried about this, but not concerned, because my worry motivated me to drop Microsoft entirely.
If Microsoft did respect user privacy, then Microsoft would not collect the telemetry data in Windows 10 and subsequently sell that data to third parties.
"You can change the level under Diagnostic and usage data and also set the Feedback frequency to Never if you simply want to opt out."
To be frank, I don't believe you can actually "opt-out" of the monitoring and telelmetry, no matter what they claim.
I bet you could turn off every single telemetry-related setting and disable all of the "Diagnostic and usage data" widgets, and Windows would still be found to be sending all sorts of info back to Microsoft.
I just don't believe a word Microsoft says about monitoring or not monitoring users anymore, period.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I expect that they will introduce a subscription model next (they wanted to do this fore Windows 7, IIRC, but was axed because they Ballmer didn't have to cojones to pull it off), or an a la carte Windows licensing model, where you only pay for the features you want (which sounds great in theory, but only means that you'll end up paying 3x more for the feature you already have now).
Uh, no, Microsoft just realized that:
a) PCs are a declining market
b) PCs remain viable far longer than they used to
c) Very few Windows users upgrade their OS - they "upgrade" when they buy a new computer
d) The world is going mobile, multi-platform, and cloud-based
All this means that it's better for MS to just sell (it's no longer free, in case you forgot) one perpetually-updating version of Windows to reduce long-term support commitments, and to encourage as many people as possible to get on board. Windows is now just another platform for their subscription services. But the subscription service is NOT Windows. Instead, you have Office 365, Azure cloud services, Xbox Gold, MSDN, Solitaire Games (seriously?), and so on, and of course, they make money with Windows Store purchases.
The big danger with this, as people rightly point out, that Windows users stop being Microsoft's customers and are instead a captive marketing audience at best, and a product at worst. Thus, decisions like these.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
The bullshit floweth over. If MS is so concerned with privacy, then why can't I as a paying customer shut the fucking telemetry off?
Privacy only works as a policy implemented from top to bottom with no holes in between. I don't give two flying fucks whether you had to go to a "special training class". That just enforces the fact that the wall you speak of was indeed the strongest link in the entire privacy chain.
The weakest? Do I even need to say it? Constantly sending data over the public internet to the mothership's server with no way for the client to opt-out without being a $1mm+ enterprise customer. Duh.
Oh, and let's not even talk about the misleading Win 10 upgrade box that forced millions of computers to buy into this constant spying bullshit with no way out. And sneakily turning the privacy option buttons back on after the user applied a (forced) update.
Marketing drives your revenue so you guys are a marketing company first and foremost, a software company distant second. Don't try to make it sound like you guys are all "engineery" and shit when it comes to privacy in the customer's best interest.
Windows 10 is all about adjusting the customer's privacy level to that which maximizes Microsoft's revenue.