What is Digg?Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate
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- Emused, on 04/21/2008, -57/+351Linux is just as bad, I had to block some services at the router from sending my user data to a rookery of penguins in Argentina.
- TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -38/+208I read that article and still could not decipher the problem here. Maybe I'm missing something, but can somebody point out even one inappropriate thing Microsoft is doing here? I didn't see anything that shows that Microsoft is harvesting any user data that I would consider "private". Seems like just more Windows-bashing to me.
- estvir, on 04/21/2008, -29/+175If all they really need is your IP address, as said by the article, than you should be afraid of Linux, Macs, any website and a ton of other things.
This is such a stupid, non-article and whoever wrote is trying so desperately to make Microsoft sound oh-so-horrible. They make it sound like Microsoft is collecting your name, the last thing you wrote and what you had for breakfast every time you use things like "Error Reporting for Handwriting Recognition."
If you actually Digg this article, you're an ignorant, "M$" hating lemming who can not think for their self. - thelastcivilian, on 04/21/2008, -14/+148OMGWTF!!! Windows Update has hacked my wallet and stolen photos of my kids!
Wait, what's that? Windows Update is just checking to see if Windows needs to be updated? Oh. Nevermind then. Move along... - doctechnical, on 04/21/2008, -4/+91Epic WHOOOSH.
- TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/21/2008, -5/+87"to a rookery of penguins in Argentina"
That looks nothing like a joke to me, either. - TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -11/+82I didn't know IP addresses were private. Doesn't every website you visit have access to your IP address?
I think that much of the Microsoft/Windows bashing is without merit. Many popular companies get bashed simply because of their popularity. According to Digg, Linux and Apple are the greatest inventions ever and Microsoft is the scourge of the Earth. - Emused, on 04/21/2008, -8/+72I should have added /sarcasm.I luv Tux.
- Lutremi, on 04/21/2008, -2/+61Must be pretty bad if it didn't go off at "rookery of penguins in Argentina."
- Entroper, on 04/21/2008, -5/+60From the first section: Microsoft will get your "Internet protocol address, the type of operating system, browser and name and version of the software you are using, and the language code of the device where you installed the software."
Puh-lease. Your browser provides all of that information EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU VISIT A WEBSITE. It's how websites know which features are supported by your browser so that they can render correctly. Better get out those tinfoil hats! - inactive, on 04/21/2008, -10/+54So what?!! All of these services are opt in, and even then MS clearly states what data they collect. If you want the ***** driver then MS can't magically guess your hardware, same goes for updates and everything else mentioned in the pointless article.
- theaceoffire, on 04/21/2008, -3/+45Oh god, I fell for it...
Damn I need some batteries for my sarcasm detector. - tavisjohn, on 04/21/2008, -7/+47If you can give me one good reason why DEFRAG needs to connect to the internet, than I will refrain from giving you the middle finger.
- gilbes, on 04/21/2008, -3/+40This is just a fear mongering article that is very selective in what it tells you to make you believe something that isn't true.
Windows Update needs to know which programs you install so it knows which programs you need to install.
If you enable Media Player to do so, it can grab album are and info. The only way its going to know what cover to get is to know which album it needs to get.
So onand so forth...
Its not some nefarious plot, its jut how these features need to work. And MS has appropriately disclosed everything for you.
Google collects just as much if not more information on you. - twiztidsinz, on 04/21/2008, -5/+41I WEAR THE CAPE!
I MAKE THE ***** WHOOSH NOISE!! - TKardinal, on 04/21/2008, -5/+39Inaccurate and misleading title. Buried.
- TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -7/+40Except it was removed after the Beta release of Windows 3.1 and was not in the Final edition. Nice try though.
- fkr3, on 04/21/2008, -11/+44The question is what's Microsoft got to hide? And the answer is nothing. Microsoft is under such intense scrutiny with every move they make that you can be absolutely certain nothing is phoning home without your explicit approval. The crap the article talks about is just a list of everything that has any tie at all to the internet. Free tip - if you use the internet you're going to be logged pretty much everywhere you go. Don't like it then don't use it or install Tor or whatever.
Anything that could have been interpreted as excessive information or of an identifiable nature would have been sniffed out and torn apart by the retardosphere a year ago. - TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -9/+41It's not a monopoly. What entrance barriers are there to the OS market? Linux and Mac OS are both competitors.
- gcnaddict, on 04/21/2008, -18/+49Buried as inaccurate. I spoke to some of the program leads; Microsoft can't trace a single soul with any of the data they retrieve from these systems.
All of the data harvested is simply which buttons were clicked how often, which menus were opened, etc.
No keylogging, personally identifiable data of any sort. The only exception *might* be error reporting if the error report took SPECIFICALLY ASKED you if it can send more data to Microsoft, but no IPs are kept on any error reports, nor are any PIDs, etc. - baylat, on 04/21/2008, -9/+38Those stuff mentioned in the article are not considered private. Plus, even if they were collecting private data like names, they're not stupid enough to use it against the privacy policy the user agree on. The article is making it sound like Vista is a big keylogger...
- Senn, on 04/21/2008, -20/+49Fairly old news now, but worth a recap for those Vista users interested in privacy.
- gremlinchief, on 04/21/2008, -2/+29owned by truncation
- HaloZero, on 04/21/2008, -1/+27Logego: So they check your computer to see if you don't have a pirated version. Those bastards, how dare they prevent me from stealing their software!
- TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -7/+33Please list some of the extortion, fraud, and cartel-like behavior that Microsoft has engaged in.
- TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -5/+29I looked and saw nothing even closely resembling the things you were talking about...Point me in a specific direction perhaps.
- mrsteveman1, on 04/21/2008, -14/+37False alarm people, gcnaddict spoke to someone who assured him its not true, we can all get back to our lives now :D
- TomK88, on 04/21/2008, -5/+27Huh? Every company in America can be forced to disclose information about you if required by law. This is nothing new.
What part of that is scary? - agimat, on 04/21/2008, -3/+25I connected to them and they'll keep a record of my IP address! Nooooo!
- baylat, on 04/21/2008, -3/+24"If you want the ***** driver then MS can't magically guess your hardware"
Sorry, I have to quote it. :) - doctechnical, on 04/21/2008, -0/+20There was one EULA from Microsoft that I really enjoyed... it was some Windows update, IIRC, some years ago. Whoever did the programming forgot to set the "read-only" attribute on the text control, so I deleted the original wording, substituted "Bill Gates owes me a pony" and clicked "I Agree".
I'm still waiting on my pony, Bill! - mrsteveman1, on 04/21/2008, -3/+22Well now i just feel silly
- gcnaddict, on 04/21/2008, -13/+32Those who know me know that I'm qualified with my statement. If you don't, then you can either take me on my word or move on with your lives and the associated fear.
However, since a decent qualification statement is hard to come by, here's mine:
I'm Bryant, lead blogger/chief editor/whichever from AeroXP, a high traffic Windows-Centric community and blog. One of the PMs with whom I talked about this (though not on camera) is Jensen Harris. You can see my on-camera interview with him here:
http://conhopper.net/files/MIX08/3-7-MIX08_Jensen_ ... - Dumbledorito, on 04/21/2008, -4/+23@sirhomer: You didn't point even one out. Care to?
- cjflashman, on 04/21/2008, -7/+26Don't get this guy wrong, a lot of people do hate M$ but this guy is seriously overdoing it.
- HaloZero, on 04/21/2008, -2/+20sirhomer: Everyone who has a lot of power is hated. They just need a bit of time. Even Google might start becoming evil and google bashing will spread thoroughout the internet in 2015.
- wolferz, on 04/21/2008, -4/+21FTA: "By using these features, you consent to the transmission of this information. Microsoft does not use the information to identify or contact you."
Then it's not personal data.
FTA: "The Redmond company emphasized numerous times the fact that all information collected is not used to identify or contact users. But could it? Oh yes!"
...and information collected by the IRS could be used to create profiles of every man woman and child in the entire country. Tin foil hat time!
FTA: "Still, Microsoft underlined the fact that the list provided under the Windows Vista Privacy Statement is by no means exhaustive, nor does it apply to all the company's websites, services and products."
Standard "Cover Your Ass" legalese that can be found in every EULA written or Contract signed in the last century.
FTA: "However, it is more than sufficient to raise serious issues regarding user privacy."
Again why not be worried about the IRS? They have 100 times more information about me and none of it is as unimportant as what usb devices I have connected.
I can go on...
What's more is almost all of the things mentioned as collecting user data have been doing so since Windows XP RTM. Firefox collects similar info when told to send an error report... as does Open Office... and Distros like Suse that have an error reporting feature. Firefox, Open Office and Suse also have similar statements in their EULA. Why aren't they being called out as invading their users privacy? Oh right! They are open source *worships fanatically*.
Once again this is much ado about nothing... another transparent attempt to jump on the "let's bash ms and vista" bandwagon that is so popular these days. You wana bash some one bash google. They already index patient records and now are working to index DNA samples. You think MS is Evil... Google has enough information on file to extort every single person who has ever lived in a developed country... and they want more. Till I see people bashing Google as evil the spouting of long lists of evil acts committed by MS amount to little more than a pathetic desire to be part of the "in crowd." - slainbyte, on 04/21/2008, -4/+20"Same goes with having you arrested if their data retrieves anything they find suspicious."
Please show me when this has ever happened. Considering the Billions of installs. There should be at least one instance of this right? - TinternAbbot, on 04/21/2008, -3/+19Holy *****, have you guys heard about these things called cookies? Wait...you have?
- Wang, on 04/21/2008, -3/+18Firstly, you have to opt into this. Secondly, this data is stuff that could be used to improve windows (which is a good thing, no?) and which could also be use to track down the most common application crashes/bugs so that the worst issues get fixed first. Thirdly, as every other comment here has pointed out - if you want complete privacy...disconnect from the Internet.
- estvir, on 04/21/2008, -1/+16Might start? They started some time ago.
- TeacherOfHeroes, on 04/21/2008, -2/+16People may technically agree to EULAs, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them "explicit approval". More like approval through neglect.
- rabidg00se, on 04/21/2008, -5/+18I think it's worth pointing out that TomK88 has been a member of Digg for six months longer than you, logego. Elitist douche.
- Kwipper, on 04/21/2008, -2/+15This was a waste of my ***** time. No digg and I buried this article as LAME!
- wibambau, on 04/21/2008, -8/+21Wow, it's not a story from The Onion. Ouch.
- mrsteveman1, on 04/21/2008, -0/+12Yea man, i had this really freaky zoo porn on my machine the other day, AND BALLMER CALLED ME OUT OF THE BLUE!!!
Of course, he only wanted to share his wombat porn collection - Sheeplike, on 04/21/2008, -4/+16Exactly. I have 4 machines and each is running a different OS. XP, Vista, OSX and Ubuntu Gusty and every single one of them collect your IP address and other non-private information. Any website you visit can collect this information easily. The author must lack those researching skills.
- grimward, on 04/21/2008, -2/+14This article is just pure FUD straight through, I wish I could mark this as "nuke from orbit please" when burying it. Also, for you scaredycats out there, get a ***** clue, run wireshark and see for yourself what "malicious infornation" Vista sends, but .. if you truly believe this article, you'll probably be going "omfg, what are these ARP packets?!!?!!111" instead.
- trogdoor, on 04/21/2008, -2/+14"At times we may be required by law or litigation to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary."
Taken from http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
It's in just about every privacy policy ever made. - specialK16, on 04/21/2008, -0/+12@sirhomer: I tried googling for any relationship between MS and 9-11 and didn't get any result at all.
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