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Windows 10 Will Soon Let Users Track the Data Microsoft Collects (thurrott.com)

Windows 10 will soon get a new application that will allow users to keep track of the data that Microsoft collects from their device. From a report: Ahead of the Data Privacy Day, Microsoft today introduced a new Diagnostic Data Viewer app for Windows 10 -- first coming to Windows Insiders -- that enables users to view all the diagnostic data that's being collected by Windows 10. The new Diagnostic Data Viewer will display different types of diagnostic data collected by the OS. This includes Common Data (your OS version, device ID/type, etc.), Device Connectivity and Configuration data (device capabilities, user settings, peripherals and network info), Product and Service Performance (device health, performance, reliability data), Product and Service Usage (data on usage of device, apps, OS), and Software Setup and Inventory (update information). The app includes a search feature that lets you search for specific items.

75 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. OK for diagnostic data, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They specifically say we can view the diagnostic data, but they do not mention the user profiling data that is used for advertising or the data that is provided to the NSA. I applaud this first step but it's really just a feel-good type of thing. The community needs to keep on Microsoft for full transparency.

    1. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY

    2. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What are you worried about? It's like the NSA can track anoymou..&(*&%*$%&*($&%...NO CARRIER

    3. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      but they do not mention the user profiling data that is used for advertising or the data that is provided to the NSA.

      What actually is that data? I mean you say they are collecting such data so you must have some idea of what that is to be confident that it is being collected.

      More to the point, if the government is strongarming companies for data (and we know they are trying given you see the lengths MS is going to in the courts to stop government access to offshore email servers) then perhaps it's the perverse and intrusive government you should be taking it up with.

    4. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      What's a carrier?

    5. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      A joke you won't get.

      "What does a Navy pilot and an internet addict have in common?"
      "Both break out in cold sweat when they find NO CARRIER"

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by GoTeam · · Score: 1

      Just because I have no idea if you are being sarcastic or not... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    7. Re:OK for diagnostic data, but... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      A joke you won't get.

      Sigh, I was aiming for funny but I hit clueless millennial. :-)

  2. Killer app by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    This is the killer feature that will give Microsoft a foothold over its greatest competitor, Linus Torvalds.

    Well, that and FISA Section 702.

  3. Governments please by tsa · · Score: 2

    It's time this unbridled data collecting by companies becomes outlawed.Of course this isn't as simple as it looks but please make a serious start.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  4. FTFY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Windows 10 Will Soon Let Users Track the Data Microsoft admits that it Collects (thurrott.com)

  5. Mockery? by rastos1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How useful is seeing the data if I can't stop them? At best it may be an eye opener. But that is far from the ideal situation.

    1. Re: Mockery? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Now you know that MS knows you have a small dick

    2. Re:Mockery? by Gilgaron · · Score: 2

      I suppose you could verify if you stopped them or not by looking at the data after changing various things.

    3. Re:Mockery? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The simple things like web browsing, email and office documents can be run on just about any device but when you look at professional application spaces like BIM, architecture, CAD, CAM, CAE, manufacturing simulation, environmental simulation, factory design, video editing, audio production, image editing, post production, game engines, etc... most of that is Windows.

      Yes Linux covers the basics of usage that are common to pretty much all users but when you start to look beyond that by and large the applications are run on Windows and the computations are either done locally or on Linux machines that are the backend for cloud services.

    4. Re:Mockery? by PingPongBoy · · Score: 1

      How useful is seeing the data if I can't stop them? At best it may be an eye opener. But that is far from the ideal situation.

      Who stops whom?

      Where's Windows 11? Microsoft isn't even going if I can't run Windows 11 by now.

      --
      Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
    5. Re:Mockery? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      It depends on what the data are. There's a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't mind an OS vendor knowing, because it makes it easier for them to fix bugs that affect me. There's also data that I don't want them seeing because it includes confidential or personal information (and, in some cases, where an NDA means that I may have legal penalties if I do let them see it). Core dumps of applications, for example, will contain state regarding my documents and should never be sent without my express permission, but a stack trace of a crash is fine. I'm also fine with some aggregate data regarding CPU usage of different applications (if they know that application X is responsible for flattening my battery, maybe they'll prioritise optimising it), but I'm not okay with their knowing exactly which applications are running when.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  6. Should have had this from day 1 by Alain+Williams · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It will show the data that Microsoft wants you to know that it is taking. Unless this tool is open source you would be unwise to assume that it was showing you everything; even then: does the operating system keep (or make visible) all the files that it sends ?

    1. Re:Should have had this from day 1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It will show the data that Microsoft wants you to know that it is taking. Unless this tool is open source you would be unwise to assume that it was showing you everything; even then: does the operating system keep (or make visible) all the files that it sends ?

      Open sourcing the tool wouldn't help you as long as the operating system underneath can be doing absolutely anything with your data without you knowing. If Windows lies to the tool about the data it's forwarding there's no way you could ever tell. You would need to open source the entire operating system and then make sure you compiled it safely from that source.

    2. Re:Should have had this from day 1 by Solandri · · Score: 1

      The conspiracy theorist response would be that Microsoft already got most of the data they wanted (which programs you use, how often you use them, how big your porn collection is, etc). Now that they've built up profiles for most of their customers, they can scale back the telemetry, then reveal what they're collecting to the public. And this amounts to them claiming, "See? We aren't collecting any personal info.... [whispered to themselves: anymore...]"

  7. Corporate lying degrades lives. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Exactly. We need complete transparency. Corporate lying destroys credibility, and degrades the quality of the lives of those who engage in it.

    The overall story: Microsoft and Windows cannot be trusted. Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made. And: 7 ways Windows 10 pushes ads at you...

    Intel CPUs cannot be trusted: We translated Intel's attempt to spin its way out of the CPU security bug PR nightmare.

    Articles about spyware in CPUs

    I would be very interested to know the sociology behind Microsoft's adoption of the abusive methods of Google's Android operating system.

  8. I don't care. I want an OFF button. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't collect data from my devices. No ifs and buts. Don't.

    1. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not that hard, just disable all network connections if you must use windows for CAD or something.

      Then use an Open Source OS for your web browser, email etc.

    2. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Microsoft tried this, and you complained about how Windows crashed all the time and never worked right.

      One thing has nothing to do with the other, you Redmond fart-sniffer, you.

    3. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1
      --
      Eat the rich.
    4. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Then it's time to develop something that poisons the data pool. What we need to do is add enough bogus data that it becomes impossible to tell false from real data apart, rendering the whole data collection worthless.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Yes it does. When MS did some initial pilots of this, they found that around 80% of Windows crashes were caused by a small number of device drivers not sanity checking the data coming from the device. Apparently it was really common to see code that would read an error code from a device register and then use that to index into a table of error messages and return that higher up the stack. This works fine in most cases, but transient errors on the bus can cause that value to be out of the expected range, so the error message pointer ends up being to a random bit of kernel memory. Attempting to copy it out to userspace then doesn't find a null byte and gives you an invalid access in kernel mode, which triggers a crash. They now have a static analysis tool that checks for this.

      The crashes you see in Windows, macOS, Linux, or FreeBSD are the ones that don't happen on the developers' systems. On systems with a mostly technical userbase, you can rely on helpful bug reports. On systems with a mostly non-technical userbase, you need some mechanism for identifying the causes of common issues for users.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    6. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      They probably don't care if you disable it. They probably don't care if 5% of their users disable it. They do care if all corporate users disable it, because those are the customers most likely to complain loudly if the system crashes or performs poorly in their use cases.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    7. Re:I don't care. I want an OFF button. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Look at that date on that. It's an obsolete kludge that won't work any more.

      "4 days ago"

      Yeah, totally obsolete.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  9. Useless by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 2

    Who says that's ALL they really collect?
    Sounds like it'll shut a few people up but overall nothing changes.

    Nobody's forcing anyone to use products that collect information on you. Why is everyone so uptight about having their dick pics scanned by "Company X" anyways? If you want to get something somewhere in a safe and secure manner, there are ways to do it; or just don't put extremely sensitive stuff on your daily device of choice.

    Sure this post can be read as flame bait but let's be honest here, unless they start using said data to put people in jail over some very questionable Google searches, who fucking cares what they know about you? If *they* REALLY want to know who you are, they'll find out. Otherwise it's just a way for them to cater to their audiences/market their products better. A *competent* criminal in today's world wouldn't dump everything about them in digital format anyways.

    I'll worry when they feed it all to an A.I. that spits out something along the lines of "I've concluded person X is a danger to society and should be incarcerated." and we actually treat that as absolute truth by going ahead and doing it. THEN people should flip their shit.

    --
    I tend to rant.
    1. Re:Useless by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Who says that's ALL they really collect?

      You can never be 100% sure, but if this report is inaccurate then their liability under the GDPR is going to be huge. Someone in Redmond is no doubt calculating the size of the fine versus the value of the data, and my guess is that the value of any data that they're not willing to admit collecting is far lower than the possible fine (I forget the exact amount, but I think it's something like 10% of annual turnover).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  10. Misleading. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What they are doing is trying to mislead you into thinking that diagnostic data is the only thing they are collecting. The truth is they are collecting a whole lot more and selling it to advertisers but they aren't giving you a tool to see that data.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Misleading. by DogDude · · Score: 2

      The truth is they are collecting a whole lot more and selling it to advertisers but they aren't giving you a tool to see that data.

      Do you have any support for this statement, or are you just making shit up?

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    2. Re:Misleading. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The truth is they are collecting a whole lot more and selling it to advertisers

      No, that is just untrue and you trying to masquerade that as the truth makes you just as untrustworthy as Microsoft. They do not sell your data to advertisers, they (like other companies) sell a service to match advertisements with a target audience based on the data they collect.

      I know it sounds a lot more nefarious to say what you're saying but you're just lying, their behaviour is misleading and your behaviour is dishonest. If you can show me where I, as an advertiser, can go and buy people's personal data then sure, but you can't because it is simply not true no matter how much you want to call it "the truth".

    3. Re:Misleading. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      some people have short memories: https://yro.slashdot.org/story...

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    4. Re:Misleading. by DogDude · · Score: 1

      There's nothing in that article, or any of the links from that article, that I can find that says anything about Microsoft selling Windows 10 data to advertisers.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    5. Re:Misleading. by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Microsoft makes money through selling their OS. They don't need to sell advertising data.

      Also, as a Windows Phone user, I can tell you, I don't see any tracking going on. That might be because I'm not logged in with any Microsoft id. You don't have to be to use Windows Phone. Can't say that about Google or Apple.

      So yes, I'd say that Microsoft is different in that respect.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
  11. Re:But will they believe it? by sheph · · Score: 2

    Of course not. They'll show you the innocuous data to put you at ease after it's already been sent.

    --
    I don't believe in karma, I just call it like I see it.
  12. One small step for Microsoft... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2

    .. a very small step. Almost an invisible step. I don't want to just see my data that are collected, I want to be able to control whether or not my data are collected in the first place. And along those lines, I'd want to see and control all the data that Microsoft is harvesting from my computer (it is my computer, isn't it, Microsoft?). Not just the diagnostic data, but the user tracking data as well.

  13. Avoid hypocrisy by erapert · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Everyone complaining about Microsoft's data collection should switch immediately to Mac or Linux. Either that or you're proving that you don't actually care-- and so why should Microsoft care?

    1. Re:Avoid hypocrisy by iampiti · · Score: 1

      Nice white or black scenario you painted here. Many of us have software that only works on Windows so we're tied to it whether we like it or not.

    2. Re:Avoid hypocrisy by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Aka "screw you, I got mine".

      Yes, I can protect myself and my data from an overreaching corporation, and a government acting likewise. Does that mean I should not care about those that cannot protect themselves?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Avoid hypocrisy by erapert · · Score: 1

      I can protect myself and my data from an overreaching corporation

      Using Linux is the actual solution to the problem of being abused by an operating system vendor. Suggesting that others should also use this solution isn't "screw you I got mine", it's actually helping by recommending a solution.

      So it's you who is saying "screw you (normies) I got mine" because you continue to use the system that abuses others-- because you're ok with it.
      The difference between us is that I actually recommended a solution while you pointed out how you're doing alright yet tried to claim the moral high ground by merely saying that you cared about those who cannot protect themselves. But if that were the case then why didn't you recommend or implement a solution yourself?

      Does that mean I should not care about those that cannot protect themselves?

      If you actually do care then you should be sending Microsoft a message by neither using nor participating in their abusive product ecosystem. By continuing to be on that platform you continue to be counted among its market share-- and so other software vendors assume that it's not worth their time to support other (i.e. free-er) platforms and so those other (free-er) platforms suffer. Thus you perpetuate the abuse that you claim you don't want others to suffer under.

    4. Re:Avoid hypocrisy by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Linux is very often not a solution. There are a lot of Windows programs that can't run natively on Linux, and which may not run well under Wine, and which don't have good Linux equivalents. If you don't use any of those, great, but many people do.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  14. Are there no computer programs any more by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 1

    Apps were something that ran on your tablet or cell phone, but now it seems like people call everything an app.

    Folks like us are now appers (or something) and no longer programmers??

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
    1. Re:Are there no computer programs any more by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Apps were something that ran on your tablet or cell phone, but now it seems like people call everything an app.

      Folks like us are now appers (or something) and no longer programmers??

      Before that, "apps" were things you ordered before dinner at a restaurant.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:Are there no computer programs any more by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      They still are.

      If someone asks me to program an "app", I know someone I don't want to work for. If you're smart, don't. You're looking at someone who has no idea what he's talking about but is 100% buzzword-compliant. That's the WORST kind of customer you could have.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  15. Right! by ruddk · · Score: 2

    I only boot my Windows gaming pc once a week, and I noticed just how much that windows telemetry accessed my NVME drive, it took minutes for it to finish whatever it were doing at boot up, reading hundreds of megabytes pr second. until I finally had enough and disabled it in registry.
    Although you never really know what they are doing, I just don't trust that machine.

  16. How dumb the customer is perceived ? by mohsel · · Score: 1

    So Intel is going to release a microprocessor that features exclusively the absence of a second secret spying system. And Microsoft will soon let their users see -partially- what data their paid SpywareAsAnOs is sending. You have to think real low of your customers to present those things as features, does the mining of the data they collect gave them insight of a low IQ of most users ?

    1. Re:How dumb the customer is perceived ? by tsa · · Score: 1

      Most people don't know about this and many of the people who do don't give a damn.

      --

      -- Cheers!

  17. Should have just not collected it in the first pla by Excelcia · · Score: 1

    Agreed, they are not to be trusted. They should just not be collecting data in the first place. How about a simple one-stop shopping applet that displays all the data Microsoft wants to collect, with a little checkbox beside each category, disabled by default.

    While we're at it, how about reverting to selectable updates too.

  18. Here's what would shut me up. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    If Microsoft wants to offer a free or reduced priced version of Windows that collects system, application and/or user telemetry - fine. As long as they *also* offer a version -- perhaps more expensive -- that had all those data collection features (and, optionally, Cortana, which I never and would never use) removed or permanently disabled. (I would bet they're, at the very least, a simple compile-time option.) If they did that, how many here would pony up the extra $$ to buy the spyware-free version vs. just continue to complain about it?

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Here's what would shut me up. by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I've posted a comment similar to yours several times here. I would buy such a version of Windows. If I could UI Windows 7's UI all the better.
      Alas, it seems they're not interested in that, and only give a nicer (not good enough) version of Windows to companies that pay for Windows Server.

    2. Re:Here's what would shut me up. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      And would it be possible to point out which "service or two" we'd have to disable?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  19. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    Who watches the watchmen?

    Seriously, we can track the data that Microsoft collects, using Microsoft's own software, and maybe there are some things we don't get to track? Who knows!

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  20. Viewing Data by hardburlyboogerman · · Score: 1

    is fine but how about the ability to block the data from being sent at all? This is still not enough to get me to use Windoze again

    --
    Geek Hillbilly
    1. Re:Viewing Data by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      C'mon, that can't be possible. Not even APK made that claim, and according to him hosts files can cure aids and cancer.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  21. Nice, but... by YukariHirai · · Score: 1

    Now how about a way to stop it collecting the data in the first place?

    1. Re:Nice, but... by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      Now how about a way to stop it collecting the data in the first place?

      Most data sent can be blocked in the Task Scheduler.

      There are .CPL's that claim opt-out's, but they don't work, only from the Task Scheduler. It's always been this way.

      Application Experience
      Collects program telemetry information if opted-in to the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program.

      Cortana can be disabled by renaming the directory: x:\windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy

    2. Re:Nice, but... by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1
      --
      Eat the rich.
  22. I heard it! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    What about all the crap about taking sceeenshots and sending them back to MS, and keystroke logging too?

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  23. Lessons from the past... by CyberRacer · · Score: 1

    Oh George Orwell, where are you when we need you?

  24. Don't care by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    I don't run Windows, but even if I did, this news would be meaningless to me. Now if the headline had said "Windows 10 Will Soon Let Users Track Microsoft Executives' Internet Activities", I might consider using Windows. But until somebody tells me that all this data collection is taking place bi-directionally on a truly level playing field, then any such 'concessions' are merely insulting. Microsoft and others of its ilk can go pound salt.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  25. data by ohgary · · Score: 1

    What we want is to STOP the data, not to know what your collecting.

    1. Re:data by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      When you know what they collect, you know what to flood them with to make the data useless.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  26. Re:Should have just not collected it in the first by Slashdot+Junky · · Score: 1

    And a change in thei revenue model to one where the users trade cash for the software they develop at a price that is fair for both parties all without the data collection backed "free" pricing model bullshit. I wish we'd move beyond the free model for most things. Free never is, and I don't like the true price we pay companies now.

    --
    .
    Landfill Mining Co.
    Managing the (Un)natural Resources of Tomorrow
  27. No deal by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    So long as Windows can't be configured not to communicate with Microsoft at all for ANY reason Windows is off the table.

    1. Re:No deal by tsa · · Score: 1

      No updates for you then.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:No deal by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

      No updates for you then.

      Excellent point. It's impossible to update an operating system without communicating with OS vendor. Doing so would violate causality.

  28. MS get a taste of their own medicine by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    1. MS spies on people
    2. MS admits to spying on people
    3. MS let each person track the data collected
    next steps:
    4. MS let people track any data MS collects
    5. People track whatever MS does

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  29. Let them pay by tsa · · Score: 1

    I'd like the EU to install legislation that makes companies like MS, Google and Facebook pay me for the data they collect about me and sell to whomever.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  30. Re: OK for diagnostic data, but Hillary For Prison by fisted · · Score: 1

    we invented slashdot and we invented hashtags and we invented internet

    From that I extrapolate that 2 out 3 things you come up with are shit.

  31. Re:Turn off ? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Have you tried it recently? With the last update they made it harder (again) to get rid of their junk.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  32. All the data? by sad_ · · Score: 1

    And how are we to confirm this is really ALL the data? or just a subset of it that they want to share or use under false transperacy claims?

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  33. In Microsoft Russia... by OneAhead · · Score: 1

    In Microsoft Russia, you track data.

    Wait, that's not how it went...