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If you have been refusing Microsoft's offer to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8* operating system to Windows 10 due to the oft-reported data and telemetry slurping it seems inclined to do, then it is time to be on your toes as to which updates you allow to be installed on your earlier version of the operating system.
El Reg reports that Microsoft are busy pushing similar functionality to those older operating systems by way of Windows Update. The updates in question can apparently be rolled back if required.
They are however very determined in their function if allowed to be installed, going so far as to ignore such venerable solutions as additions to the HOSTS file, which has historically been a way to knobble phone-home behaviour:
Now Microsoft is revamping the user-tracking tools in Windows 7 and 8 to harvest more data, via some new patches.
All the updates can be removed post-installation – but all ensure the OS reports data to Microsoft even when asked not to, bypassing the hosts file and (hence) third-party privacy tools. This data can include how long you use apps, and which features you use the most, snapshots of memory to investigate crashes, and so on.
The updates are KB3068708 ("Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry" and mandatory) KB3075249 ("Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7") and KB3080149 (also an "Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry", both optional).
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2015, @07:24PM
What would happen if some district attorney decides to convince a judge that this constant stream of information back to MS, Apple, Google etc (from tracking, voice command (e.g. Siri, Cortana...) and all those other things) means that everyone and their lawyer has a reduced expectation of privacy and therefore: no more attorney-client privilege, no more spouse confidentiality and so on? No more warrants.
Consider that phones are constantly sending voice info (if enabled and connected to the internet) - even the bedroom talk if the phone is on the nightstand. I know that doesn't mean what a dumb DA thinks it means (or a dumber judge), but not understanding tech hasn't stopped them in the past.
(Score: 1) by SDRefugee on Wednesday September 02 2015, @08:36PM
I GOTTA believe that the "enterprise" version of 10 has this crap turned off, as I cannot for a moment believe that large corporations are going to allow the "data-leaks" that the Home/Pro versions of Windows 10 have... I for one would LOVE to see some wireshark captures of Home/Pro and compare to Enterprise... Should be eye-opening....
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 2, Informative) by Intros on Friday September 04 2015, @04:12PM
From the reports I have read, it's not disabled in the Enterprise versions, and you can't lock many of the new Windows 10 features down with GPO nearly enough.
The Enterprise fixes are supposed to come in either "Threshold 2" (November 2015 update) or "Redstone" (Service Pack 1 early next year?). I doubt you will see many companies upgrade before those are released, outside of internal IT testing.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Wednesday September 02 2015, @09:30PM
What would happen if some district attorney decides to convince a judge that..
Better one. What happens when a court is facing a suspect with a wiped computer or encryption they can't break and serves paper on MS to open their piggy bank and cough up the logged keystrokes and other collected data. So long as they can keep it quiet, not much. But let it break into the news and it will be a fiasco.
Kinda like the recent news out of TX where some guys killed a cop and the PD hit the cell companies for every record in a ten mile radius. Remember, the NSA having it might be bad but the carriers have EVERYTHING and they never delete anything. They have location tracking with one minute resolution from the moment they activated your handset to now, which is far more than the NSA had. But they have so far managed to keep that detail from becoming a major national news story, certainly that detail was only in the local coverage. If people realized that phone in their pocket was a LoJack for themselves, and that they were paying to carry that tether, a lot more people would be rethinking it or at least switching it off a lot more.