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Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users More Control Over App Permissions (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the taking-steps dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The software giant has revealed that you'll get much more control over what apps are allowed to do with your device. Where you previously only had control over location sharing, the Fall Creators Update will ask you to grant permission before accessing all kinds of potentially sensitive hardware and software features. It'll ask to use your camera and microphone if you have a video recording app, for instance, or check before offering access to your calendar and contacts. You'll only get these prompts for apps installed after you move to the Fall Creators Update; you'll have to dive into your privacy settings to review permissions for apps you already have. Even so, it's an important boost to Windows' privacy security levels. Much as on phones, where fine-grained permissions are already fairly commonplace, you might not have to worry as much about malicious apps spamming your contacts or hijacking the camera.

32 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. I can hear the cries already by enjar · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why can't they just make it work like Windows XP did? It never asked me about permissions or for administrator access when I installed 500 toolbars, bonzi buddy and cool customized cursor packs and it was all just fine.

    1. Re:I can hear the cries already by coastwalker · · Score: 2

      Hey suckers you carry on using Apps and the rest of us over 50 will stick with conventional desktop applications. I imagine they already know when to start advertising funeral services to losers like you. At least for the moment Classic Shell hides all of these pieces of marketing malware in a drop-down menu that I have never bothered to explore. Though I have bothered to disable anything that they hook to in the settings. Enjoy your walled garden!

      --
      Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
    2. Re:I can hear the cries already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why can't they make it work like Windows 7? In Windows 7 I can grant different users and groups access to only the things they should have access to. In turn, I can make any application run under whatever permissions I want. Why the fuck is Windows 10 going backwards and taking control away from users?

      Also I see nothing in there about Windows 10 removing the spyware, removing the adware, restoring user control over updates or giving users the ability to purge worthless bloatware like "Windows Store", "Xbox" or "Cortona".

    3. Re:I can hear the cries already by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      Of course people here over 40 fear change.

      Now they swear by 8 year old win 7 and are shocked it's become difficult to use on new hardware.

      Not sure if these statements are related to me in any way or not but as far as we had a recent chat on pretty similar lines, I would assume that it is the case and here I go, for me and for my generation :)

      Firstly, I am 39 and am not sure whether all the other people of my age feels like I do but am very far away from starting to feel afraid of any kind of innovation. Much less in anything related to computers and software because this is what my work is about; in fact, I am not precisely doing standard stuff but trying always to go a bit further, to innovate. My impression is that software-related people around my age with all what this entails (e.g., relevant amount of work experience, mostly related to software) is everything but scared of change, although the logical behaviour is to not change (only a fool believe that magical, working-perfectly new approaches can compete with actual knowledge, experience and being comfortable with certain conditions). Actually, having a relevant experience is a basic requirement for becoming proficient in the programming/software world, much more now with the increasingly big number of alternatives and higher complexity. In fact, experienced-enough people are usually more opinionated in the sense of objectively criticising/appraising, what might be somehow inconvenient for some theoretically-technical companies which seem to have moved from objective correctness into the fan-based world.

      Even by ignoring the experience/background/objectivity aspects, letting fear influence any relevant decisions sounds as a quite stupid behaviour. Assuming that certain person has performed whatever action, not because of a sensible reason, but because of something as childish as fear (to what?! To not knowing how to use increasingly easier formats?!) is almost an insult to that person; it is pretty much the same than arbitrarily calling that person an idiot. I don't know how it was back in your times (from your UID, your nick and the way in which talk, I presume that you are notably older than me), but my generation (the current 40-ers) has grown with computers and technology everywhere (like the younger ones, without the disadvantage of over-saturation and companies/movies trying to indoctrinate them into some kind of fanatic love for a company/product). I have been working on programming/engineering and completely into all this world for over 10 years, but some time before that my behaviour was completely different; people who met me 20 years ago might not even believe my current occupation/knowledge/likenesses; but even back then when I wasn't caring too much about all this, I was systematically surrounded by computers/software and never felt anything even close to fear to use a so idiot-proof piece of software as an operating system.

      What I saw the other day when trying to install my Windows 7 copy in my brand new computer wasn't scaring to me. I simply didn't like it. I don't have to like what Microsoft or any other company does. I don't have to be afraid of sharing my honest impression about what I don't like of a company whose products I consume (= I am their client = their everything = my voice has to matter to them, their voice is irrelevant to me). Additionally, if that company delivers the tools which I use in my highly-specialised work (almost my hobby too), where I am an expert, my opinion about their decisions should still be more relevant to them.

      I have been using Windows as my primary OS for quite a few years; I have used Linux quite a lot too, but always secondarily, never installed it my main machine, the one I use to perform my work. When I saw the problem I commented the other day, I decided to move to Linux in the same spot: moving to a completely different format without having thought about it even 1 hour before! This

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    4. Re:I can hear the cries already by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      And if you are one of those who also has aero disabled and has the classic look here is what the kids think of it today :-)

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    5. Re:I can hear the cries already by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      You can thank Intel for that. Not Microsoft. Remember USB 3.0 wasn't even invented yet when Windows 7 was made.

      It is a so difficult problem that even Intel (without access to the OS source code) has created its own solution.

      Microsoft gets paid by the seat licenses either way so it makes no difference.

      Because all what they did before with this stupidly imposing attitude made sense, right? Windows 10 seems to be a good version, perhaps even better than Windows 7; why not letting the product speak for itself? Why trying to force clients by scaring lots of them? Why they had everything on their side to have an excellent medium-/long-term evolution and they did what they did? Perhaps because they got nervous? Because the initial targets weren't met and some manager thought that forcing clients was a better idea than just being patient? A stupid decision. It doesn't make sense; exactly the same than Intel providing ways to use USB 3.0 with Windows 7, but not enabling it in their new machines. In any case and as said, I don't care about the final responsible, the underlying reason was Microsoft's decision of unilaterally imposing Windows 10 to everyone.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    6. Re:I can hear the cries already by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't confuse hating change for worse with hating change in general.

    7. Re:I can hear the cries already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And? Kids lack knowledge, experience and wisdom. They have the least credibility out of anybody.

    8. Re:I can hear the cries already by The123king · · Score: 1

      Most kids. I'm 25 and am happiest sat in front of my Amiga, or toggling the switches on my PiDP-8

      Most kids today have grown up in a world with apps, smartphones and a complete disregard for data privacy, and i hate it with a passion. My iPhone won't even play music if it can't get a good 3G signal any more. That was a simple fix though, i took out the SIM card and put it in a Nokia 3310

      --
      If you gave me a choice between a printer and a giraffe with explosive diarrhoea, i'll get my ladder and my raincoat
    9. Re:I can hear the cries already by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      Note that my comments here are a continuation of a previous discussion. As you can see there, I was a happy Windows 7 user expecting to continue being that way until I discovered that my new hardware wasn't supporting Windows 7; rather than forcibly using Windows 10, I preferred to move to Linux (first time ever on my main computer). So, if you are a Windows 7 user planning to buy new hardware, you should take a look at that other thread + do some pre-research because it might not be supported.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    10. Re:I can hear the cries already by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      Right they fail to see how the gray Windows 95 GUI was the best overall!

      They said it lacks interactivity and is dull. The Windows 10 tiles and phone widgets get up to date mail, news, etc. You do not even need to open them. All the old peopl (I am 40 I may add) complain about how it looks funny but can't cite an example on why it is inferior to older stuff.

      Sorry, but I agree with the grandparent here on learning new things is hard on muscle memory even if it is an improvement. I heard the same people cry on losing XP when they talk about user preference stuff.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
  2. MS still dreaming of winodws mobile by Dorianny · · Score: 2

    Of course this only applies to apps using the Universal Windows Platform UWP api. I don't know anyone not stuck with windows on a ARM using the windows app store

  3. This feature already on mobile Win10 by sinij · · Score: 1

    One of the reasons I keep using Windows Phone is ability to fine-tune access to GPS and Contacts. More so, I can additionally turn off GPS for everything via easily accessible drop down setting menu.

  4. Whatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft Operating Systems Privacy Software Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users More Control Over App Permissions

    What about Windows 10 giving users more control over OPERATING SYSTEM Permissions?

  5. Re:Like Windows will obey them by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    BSD, OpenBSD

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  6. Slashdot Comments by Merk42 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    M$ did thing! Thing is bad!

    It's a thing we've wanted before? That other OSes we like do?
    Doesn't matter! M$ is teh evil!!1

  7. How about these permissions by ebyrob · · Score: 1

    Get off my device and go disable the windows store entirely.

    I really don't need an "app store" for a company that can't even field a cell phone platform. Heck, I don't need an app store from the 2 who CAN! If I want to install something I'll go download the bits and run it the old fashioned way thank you very much. (even if it's .apk not .msi or .exe)

    1. Re:How about these permissions by ebyrob · · Score: 1

      or .pkg or .mpkg or .deb or .rpm or .tgz or .inf or .zip etc...

  8. That's not how it will work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How it will work, is, each app will ask for a buttload of permission for stuff you'd think it doesn't need, like a puzzle game asking for camera permissions, but the app will not run unless it gets those permissions, so most users will give up and grant every app all permissions, thus making the whole exercise pointless.

    1. Re:That's not how it will work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      True that. And MS is doing the same itself; today Windows version of Skype asked if it was ok to install a update (funny question itself, as I have disabled automatic update checks on it) and the dialog gave two options; Yes and Later. Pressing Later-button just closes the Skype immediately. Only way to bypass that dialog was to answer yes. Why not be honest that we give you no choice but do as we tell you or cry and do as we tell you? And if the MS did not try to make the Skype UI worse and more phone-like on every version, people might actually want to update it.

    2. Re:That's not how it will work by Seven+Spirals · · Score: 2

      This. That's exactly what I've noticed. The last time I used IOS and Android, neither will let you assign granular/discrete permissions. It's all or nothing. Interestingly, Blackberry 10 already has this feature. The commenter's statement turns out to be exactly what happened to the native Blackberry 10 applications. You can refuse to grant the app this or that permissions, and in turn it'll simply re-display the permissions dialog or rage-quit because you won't grant 100% of everything it asked for. I've used IOS, Android, and BB10. Now, I've gone back to Symbian on a phone that is incapable of installing apps. It's a Phillips Xenium and the battery life is about three weeks.

  9. Re:windows apps = worthless imo by KiloByte · · Score: 1

    People actually use "apps" for Windows? Like for real? As in this isn't a hoax?

    I don't think anyone not on Microsoft's marketing team does. And for actual work even they still use programs not apps.

    (Seriously, I still think windows "apps" are some kind of extended April Fools gag.)

    That's a tragedy not comedy.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  10. Sticking with Windows 9 by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

    I'm not hearing good things about Windows 10, so I am sticking with Windows 9.

    1. Re:Sticking with Windows 9 by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Windows 11, it's one louder

  11. It's just like crosswalk buttons. by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

    You can push them all you want, but most of them are disconnected. (Notice the many years this has been happening.)

    --
    If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
  12. Clarification by XSportSeeker · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just so people know, this has nothing to do with regular Windows software, just Windows Store apps... which no one cares about.
    https://blogs.windows.com/wind...
    "Starting with the Fall Creators Update, we’re extending this experience to other device capabilities for apps you install through the Windows Store."

    1. Re:Clarification by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      WTF are you talking about? There are hundreds of thousands of sources for Windows software.
      The only reason for a Windows Store is to give Microsoft a cut of the purchase of other people's software.

  13. I'd rather the headline be: by QuietLagoon · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users Complete Control Over Windows 10's Data Harvesting" But it's not. So I stuck with Windows 7 until I finish my migration to Linux.

    1. Re:I'd rather the headline be: by WallyL · · Score: 1

      This. Windows 10 is what brought about my Year of Linux on the Desktop (2015). I still maintain a Windows 7 machine for gaming but that will change someday.

  14. Solved a non-problem by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    you might not have to worry as much about malicious apps spamming your contacts or hijacking the camera.

    I already don't have to worry about that, since I won't touch the app store with a ten foot pole.

    Now, will Microsoft address real security issues, such as allowing us to turn off all the telemetry?

  15. The hint is in the article title by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

    "Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users More Control Over App Permissions "

    The problem is that Windows 10 should have given users ALL control over app permissions IN THE FIRST PLACE.
    (Just put those permissions somewhere the unskilled users can't mess with them easily though)

    What Microsoft needs to work on are bugs in Windows 10 like the one where you attempt rename your computer with a string of numbers from the new PC Settings:

    "Rename your PC. You can enter a combination of letters, hyphens and numbers"
    Ok, how about 011555472053?
    "That PC name won't work. Pick one that doesn't start with a number and try again"
    *head asplode*

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  16. Re:Basically less granular SELinux by davester666 · · Score: 1

    Of course, you still can't turn off sending whatever data Microsoft feels like it wants to Microsoft...

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!