Coming soon to your windows 7 computers.

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8Muddypaws

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The thing that millions of people take umbrage about in Windows 10 are the anti-privacy features.  There are too many of them to enumerate here.

Well, it just got serious because Microsoft is rolling those 'features' out to all versions of 7 & 8.  Even worse, the new features disregard any previous privacy settings and begin key logging, recording everything you type.

You can go into the new control panel settings and manually disable these features or un-install and hide the 4 updates as shown in this article.  http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/69248-windows-10-snooping-comes-to-windows-7-and-8  There are many more such articles on tech forums.

Key logging is by far the worst idea anyone could ever allow on their computer.  Passwords, credit card numbers, logon ID's?  All being sent to a 'secure' server somewhere.

My statement regarding security: 'there is no security this side of the grave'.  Somebody will eventually hack into the server and gain access to petabytes of passwords, credit cards, etc.

I was in a security class in Chicago in the mid '90s where 'they' boasted that their security platform was impenetrable.  I sat in the back of the room and not only got into it in less than 5 minutes I changed their splash screen to a SF 49'ers logo.  I made it look like one of their employees did it but told them about it after a few minutes of hilarity.  They offered me a job in Boston, which I didn't accept.  At the time I was the technical vice president of the national users group and may have known their systems better than most.  ;)
 
You can find the 3 questionable update names/numbers in this article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/09/06/windows-10-worst-feature-now-installing-on-windows-7-and-windows-8/?utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix
 
Thanks oldme.  The Forbes article was the first one I found yesterday and actually shows you how to uninstall and hide these 4 updates.  That might come in handy for the non techies.
 
I see KB3068708 IAed 06/11/15 (which replaces KB3022345) & KB3022345 IAed 05/13/15 are installed the other two are not.  Should I remove both of these.  I have my updates on my Windows 7 setup for me to review before they are installed so I will watch for KB3075249 &
KB3080149.  I copied the info from the Forbs article thanks for the good info.  IAed is short for installed.  Dick nvrver

 
My WIN 7 update installed KB3068708 way back on 6/11/15.  BTW, it was rated IMPORTANT so I installed it.  I did uninstall it today and later today checked for new updates and, there it was again, so I re-installed it.  Probably because it was rated IMPORTANT.

I always trusted Microsoft so on 9/3 when the following 6 updates (rated OPTIONAL) appeared. I updated all 6 to my WIN 7.  Some of these are listed as BAD in the Forbes article.

KB3075249
KB3077715
KB3078667
KB3080149
KB3083324
KB3082627

After reading the info here I decided to uninstall all 6 of them.  I rechecked for updates later and the 6 of them did NOT reappear for installation like the IMPORTANT update, described in the first sentence above, did.  Probably because these 6 were only rated as OPTIONAL.

BTW, I did change my choice of updating to tell me when I have updates but let me choose when to download and install them.

Thanks for pointing  this "data collection" to me.

JerryF

 
I think if you right click on the download an select Hide from the drop down menu it will not download again, and not install.  I said think because I have not fired up a W7 system and tested it yet.
 
Come on Microsoft.....I liked Windows 10 and began to think they have made a turn to the better.  Then I read this post. 
 
If I were on a metered internet connection I may be more worried.
Still I hate a company watching my every move.

Anything you take out MS will try to sneak back.

In W10 you can go into settings and set it to "network metered" and you will only get the
most important updates, supposedly. 

 
Microsoft is collecting anonymous usage data to better understand how people use Windows so they can improve it.  They're not stealing your credit card numbers or passwords.  This is no different than Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. have been doing for years.
 
Ned said:
Microsoft is collecting anonymous usage data to better understand how people use Windows so they can improve it.  They're not stealing your credit card numbers or passwords.  This is no different than Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. have been doing for years.

And that makes it OK?
 
Larry N. said:
And that makes it OK?

Yes, if it's used to improve the product.  It's no secret how to opt out of the data collection, as the KB items have all been identified, so it's your choice.  Participate or be paranoid :)

You might want to read this article that explains that this is part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program that you had to agree to join.  If you're not part of the CEIP, then the data won't be collected.
 
PARANOIA  -    I have an advanced degree in procrastination and another one in paranoia.

I know because my house and TT are lined with aluminum foil...
 
It is the nature of key loggers to log every key.  Even if it's encrypted before transmission at some point the data is unencrypted so Microsoft can decide what to store in their database.  A character stream that contains a credit card number is easily identified, and usually surrounded by name, address, security code, expiration date etc.

The others do not use key loggers, only unencrypted web traffic.  All financial transactions should be encrypted and as such are of no use to them.  I don't care if they know I've been looking for a certain PEX connector and it appears on every page I load for weeks. (Real example BTW)

So call me paranoid, I do not want a key logger running on any machine of mine.
 
If you're really that concerned, install WireShark and spend a few hours seeing exactly what is being sent.  The servers are know so you can filter the data to just the packets that are going to MS.
 
Muddy, you might be paranoid, but call me skeptical.
"Customer Experience Improvement Program"... seriously? Microsoft? How much are they investing to assure my "customer experience."
Perhaps I'm too binary... Either the platform works or it doesn't. If it doesn't, fix it. Where I navigate shouldn't be part of the scenario.
What adds to my skepticism is the layering of BS nerd-speak...
These updates ?add telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels,?
Oh.. sure... that certainly explains it.... I feel much better.
 
You might want to read this article that explains that this is part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program that you had to agree to join.  If you're not part of the CEIP, then the data won't be collected.

Sorry, but I don't trust Microsoft. I followed all their hijinks during and after their antitrust proceedings, and there was nothing there to inspire confidence. Rather it indicated that they'd lie whenever it seemed to make them more money or get them more control. There's a big difference between collecting data from web browsing and collecting it from inside your machine itself, where they have no business being unless you invite them.

Actually, according to what I've read, if you're not part of the CEIP, then these won't be installed. That's how data won't be collected.
 
Microsoft can track me and log all my keystrokes. No problem. I only use my Windows laptop when I am working on my photos once a month. It takes me about thirty minutes. Then I open up Picasa and upload the photos. They cannot get much information from that. The rest of the time I use my Chromebook. Sure Google does keep track of me but I don't feel Google is nearly as evil as Microsoft.

Interesting side note, I lost my virginity I think. I finally got a "virus" or some malware, I don't know which but I don't think it was either. I sold my iPhone and I needed help getting my iCloud password so I called Apple Customer Service. We had a really crappy connection and she directed me to iforgot.apple.com to retrieve my password. I did not hear the dot between iforgot and apple and that site immediately started putting messages on the screen telling me I now had a virus. If I clicked the cancel button a different screen appeared telling me the same thing. Then a voice comes on the computer telling me I have a virus and I need to call a phone number to get rid of the virus. I just laughed at it and shut the machine off and rebooted and went to the right web address and changed my password. You can't get a virus with Chromebook so I guess that might qualify as malware but there are no residual effects from that encounter.
 
Tom,

That was a prime example of a malicious website.  If you had clicked on anything they wanted you to it would have installed bad stuff on your computer.  I've found that the best thing to do in those cases is to enter task manager (ctl-alt-del) and kill the browser.

Ned,

Microsoft collecting data may be benign.  But it has to be stored somewhere, both on the local machine and their servers.  Such a data store creates a place where someone could  mine every single keystroke made on that computer.  That makes cracking into that data store very attractive to criminals, I'll bet they're already working on it.

I am part of the CEIP.  Or I was until they started keylogging.  I have also been a Windows Insider for several years, since before W8 was released.

The other thing that's happening is that Microsoft's intrusion is causing video playback problems on lots of computers because it takes way too much resource.  I've found dozens of posts on tech forums where removing these 'new features' cures the problem.

If you're on a cellular connection how much are you willing to pay for data Microsoft wants?

Bob,

The elevation they're speaking of is where a program elevates itself to gain access to functions and areas it 'needs'.  Similar to 'Run as Administrator'.  I discovered that Google does this when a normal user attempts to install Chrome.  It elevates itself to Administrator.  (I've had to remove Chrome more often than anything else).
 
;D ;D Exactly why I followed some hopefully good advice! I am use Linux Mint Mate 17.2 and using Mozilla and DuckDuckGo as a search engine! May not be a total cure but some say it safer from viruses and malware.    :D
 
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