Windows 10 Creators Update to Feature New Levels of Privacy Control

[RejZoR]

Dunno, seems the same for me on my low end AMD E-450 laptop and my high end desktop (Redstone vs Creators).

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

so now they give more options for users to choose, eh? About time. Again, it's gonna be a hassle disabling & tweaking it all over again.

 

[Ahhzz]

I liked the added in your face telemetry settings on upgrade! I think a firewall helps block some of the telemetry that gets by settings. Firewall I use is http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html and it can block anything trying to get out or in.

I used to use Zone Alarm, but after they got purchased by CheckPoint, you didn't have nearly the control over the application network access that was in the previous incarnations, and unfortunately, the last decent version was very unstable on my motherboard in Win7, so I had to stop renewing my license. I would be curious to see how well this locks down a PCs processes. Is there a demo/trial version to see what kind of activity it won't let you block?

 

[DRDNA]

I used to use Zone Alarm, but after they got purchased by CheckPoint, you didn't have nearly the control over the application network access that was in the previous incarnations, and unfortunately, the last decent version was very unstable on my motherboard in Win7, so I had to stop renewing my license. I would be curious to see how well this locks down a PCs processes. Is there a demo/trial version to see what kind of activity it won't let you block?

there is a free version which is what I use. http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html

 

[Ahhzz]

Thanks, I'll take a look...


edit: in looking at the free version specs, it looks like it doesn't allow changes for any "core" operations, ie anything in \windows\* directory. Still, I'll give it a try, see if it's worth it to purchase an upgrade...

 

[DRDNA]

A new anomaly after Creators Update for me is video will out of nowhere will display very slow or just sit frozen...reboot and all is back to normal. Before this happened the laptop sat unused for about 30 minutes with out being used but still on.....keeping my eyes on this issue as it is brandnew. My netflix app did this and so was a live Fox News Stream on Edge and FF.

 

[R-T-B]

A new anomaly after Creators Update for me is video will out of nowhere will display very slow or just sit frozen...reboot and all is back to normal. Before this happened the laptop sat unused for about 30 minutes with out being used but still on.....keeping my eyes on this issue as it is brandnew. My netflix app did this and so was a live Fox News Stream on Edge and FF.

You still running those AMD cards?

I ask because I experience random video "blackouts" but I think it's an nvidia driver issue.

 

[DRDNA]

You still running those AMD cards?

I ask because I experience random video "blackouts" but I think it's an nvidia driver issue.

I put the crossfire rig in the closet about 9 months ago because its a freaking wattage eating nightmare (it will dim the lights on that circuit when benching)! it was working flawlessly when i put it in storage but that wont help you.

 

[lexluthermiester]

there is a free version which is what I use. http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html

Tried out that app. It's little more than a GUI for the in-built Windows firewall which is less than trustworthy.

Here's two very much better firewalls.
https://www.privacyware.com/personal_firewall.html
https://personalfirewall.comodo.com/

I actively use both, Privatefirewall 7 for machines I personally use and Comodo's Personal firewall[use the free version and ignore/decline the premium stuff] for the family PC. Both are free and do a MUCH better job than the windows firewall can, all-be-it at a learning curve.

 

[Parn]

Not good enough. For my Windows box, I'll cling to my trusted Win7 until there is an option to fully turn off this spying.

 

[trparky]

What I do find funny is that people who are complaining about this "telemetry" in Windows 10 are the same people who walk around with Android devices yet Android devices spew forth untold amounts of data towards Google. You know, things like your Address Book, where you have been using Google Maps, who you email via Gmail, etc.

Oh, I forgot... Google is good, Microsoft is bad. Must have missed that meeting.

 

[Jism]

That's why i use an Iphone and disable any data sharing features. An OS does not need telemetry. It never started as a telemetry service anyway.

 

[Parn]

What I do find funny is that people who are complaining about this "telemetry" in Windows 10 are the same people who walk around with Android devices yet Android devices spew forth untold amounts of data towards Google. You know, things like your Address Book, where you have been using Google Maps, who you email via Gmail, etc.

Oh, I forgot... Google is good, Microsoft is bad. Must have missed that meeting.

Well, name me a smartphone that doesn't spy on users yet supports all the games/apps I play and I'll gladly ditch my Android phone for that.

The same reason why I still have Windows boxes in the house.

 

[lexluthermiester]

You'll forgive me if this seems mildly aggressive, but it needs addressing. If you're an easily offended special snowflake, don't continue reading.

What I do find funny is that people who are complaining about this "telemetry" in Windows 10 are the same people who walk around with Android devices yet Android devices spew forth untold amounts of data towards Google. You know, things like your Address Book, where you have been using Google Maps, who you email via Gmail, etc.

Except that you seem ignorant to the fact that Google is not using your personal data for most of that information. This verified by the source code they publish openly and for what isn't openly published, they allow inspection of for security and verification purposes. I have personally witnessed such an effort. They also are NOT keystroke/tap-stroke logging, which means they do not and can not know what you type into any private entry area. What information that is of a personal nature is stored separately from non-personal data. That information is highly encrypted and never leaves Goggles possession. Additionally, ALL of that data collection can be turned off or anonymized at USER discretion[without needing SU]. Microsoft has made it clear in their EULA and other document language that they reserve the right to use and distribute ANY information they collect and as no less than three of the installed services keystroke/tap-stroke/click log, they collect everything you input into your system. Google, nor Apple, do this morally and ethically vapid practice. Both companies have demonstrated that they have and will go to great lengths to protect user privacy, even from governments. Microsoft has demonstrated just how willingly they give up, without so much as "oops", any information they have. And keystroke logging type behaviors are even illegal in some places[such as where I live].

Oh, I forgot... Google is good, Microsoft is bad. Must have missed that meeting.

While it is clear you said that in jest, and you left out Apple, you actually got it spot on. Microsoft has become a wasted, spent force who's best days are behind them. They are no longer the dominant OS on the planet and they are swiftly losing ground even to Apple. No one is willing to tolerate Microsoft's wanton and pathetic behavior. Windows is failing, Xbox is failing and they did this to themselves..

In future, if you're going to make statements which serve only to make you look like a fool, do try and lace it with less fanboyism.

 

[trparky]

I do admit that I own an iPhone (a 7 Plus to be exact) for many reasons, specifically the fact that Google uses so much of your personal data to place targeted ads in your face. That and the fact that Apple has the idea of software updates down to a science in the mobile world. Everyone gets iOS updates the same day across the world regardless of who your carrier is or where in the world you live. Android? Not so much.

I just received iOS 10.3.3 today on my iPhone 7 Plus on AT&T while at the same time my brother who is on Verizon will be receiving the same version of iOS.

This verified by the source code they publish openly and for what isn't openly published, they allow inspection of for security and verification purposes.

There are many components that make up Android, the open source components (the Linux-based sub-systems) and the closed source components such as the Google Play Services that make up such things like Maps, Gmail, The Play Store, etc. How do we know exactly what all of that stuff is doing? We can't because the source isn't available and Google, like Microsoft, isn't going to just let anyone look at the source code. That's their crown jewels, the secret sauce, etc. People who use Android devices should understand that Google is hoovering up your data and there's nothing you can do about it.

And then there's the tired argument that people bring up saying that they have more personal data on their desktops than their phones. Wrong. You have more personal data on your phones than your computer simply because you carry the thing in your pocket everywhere you go. It's collecting God knows how much data based upon where go (restaurants you eat at, stores you shop at, etc.), what web sites you visit, what videos you watch, the people in your contact list/address book, email, etc. All of that is being collected by Google to form a virtual form of you just so they can show you ads on various Google services. Hell, even YouTube does the collection of the data. I've been watching a lot of tech-related videos lately and guess what? YouTube is showing me even more tech-related videos from known popular tech-related YouTube channels.

About the only big company that comes within a mile of caring about your privacy is Apple but until Apple decides to let users use MacOS on generic PC hardware (which I highly doubt will ever happen) which operating system can we use? We're all pretty much forced to use Windows (that is, if you want any major software support) and I don't see that changing at all in the next coming years. I know, people are going to trot out the Linux argument about how because it's free and open it'll blah blah blah. We've been saying "This year will be the year of the Linux desktop" for years and yet it never lives up to it. The closest thing that Linux has come to as far as being a mainstream OS is Android but that's only because it's got a user friendly user interface layered on top of it. Most people wouldn't even know Linux was there. Then you have web servers which more than likely TechPowerUp is powered by a Linux-based server using the good old LAMP stack which consists of Linux (duh!), Apache, MySQL, and PHP. If you're getting the sense that Linux is more of a behind-the-scenes OS, you'd be right.

So it comes down to the simple question... Other than Windows, what alternatives do we have? We're pretty much shit out of luck in this regard.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A lucid response. That's kinda rare.

I do admit that I own an iPhone (a 7 Plus to be exact) for many reasons, specifically the fact that Google uses so much of your personal data to place targeted ads in your face. That and the fact that Apple has the idea of software updates down to a science in the mobile world. Everyone gets iOS updates the same day across the world regardless of who your carrier is or where in the world you live.

That's not really related to the debated point, but it is a good one.

Android? Not so much.

And another good point.

There are many components that make up Android, the open source components (the Linux-based sub-systems) and the closed source components such as the Google Play Services that make up such things like Maps, Gmail, The Play Store, etc. How do we know exactly what all of that stuff is doing? We can't because the source isn't available and Google, like Microsoft, isn't going to just let anyone look at the source code. That's their crown jewels, the secret sauce, etc. People who use Android devices should understand that Google is hoovering up your data and there's nothing you can do about it.

That is incorrect. Both companies as well as Apple allow their source code to be inspected and reviewed by governments and other entities for various reasons. NDA's are always involved but it does happen. Google is better about it than the other two.

And then there's the tired argument that people bring up saying that they have more personal data on their desktops than their phones. Wrong. You have more personal data on your phones than your computer simply because you carry the thing in your pocket everywhere you go.

That is a logical point, however, it's not true for everyone.

It's collecting God knows how much data based upon where go (restaurants you eat at, stores you shop at, etc.), what web sites you visit, what videos you watch,

That one kind of information..

the people in your contact list/address book, email, etc.

And that is another. These two types of information, along with a third, are collected differently, stored differently, protected differently and used differently. Apple does the same but to a lesser degree. Unlike Microsoft, Google and Apple have proven themselves more trustworthy. While I am not ok with the collection of these data types, I am more confident that Google will not abuse that data and that the encryption used to protect it can not be cracked should that data be stolen.

All of that is being collected by Google to form a virtual form of you just so they can show you ads on various Google services. Hell, even YouTube does the collection of the data. I've been watching a lot of tech-related videos lately and guess what? YouTube is showing me even more tech-related videos from known popular tech-related YouTube channels.

Again, the data you speak of is non-personal, even though it is somewhat individualized.

About the only big company that comes within a mile of caring about your privacy is Apple

Not true.

but until Apple decides to let users use MacOS on generic PC hardware (which I highly doubt will ever happen) which operating system can we use?

You assume everyone would want to use MacOS if Apple allowed such.

We're all pretty much forced to use Windows (that is, if you want any major software support) and I don't see that changing at all in the next coming years.

That has already changed. Windows is not the dominant OS on the planet anymore and hasn't been since last year. People are continuing to transision to Android and iOS as a daily computing platform and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.

I know, people are going to trot out the Linux argument about how because it's free and open it'll blah blah blah. We've been saying "This year will be the year of the Linux desktop" for years and yet it never lives up to it. The closest thing that Linux has come to as far as being a mainstream OS is Android but that's only because it's got a user friendly user interface layered on top of it. Most people wouldn't even know Linux was there.

But you make a good point, Linux has already taken over as a result of Android. This world is now a Linux world because of Google. Who knows what will happen in the coming years but the AndroidX86 project is robust and commonly in use. And traditional Linux variants are very well developed and stable.

So it comes down to the simple question... Other than Windows, what alternatives do we have? We're pretty much shit out of luck in this regard.

The alternatives are staring you in the face. Android, iOS, Linux and MacOS. Microsoft has lost it's foothold on the tech world and it's burying itself more swiftly than anyone could have helped. Name a function and it can be done on one of those platforms and very well. Even gaming.

 

[trparky]

The alternatives are staring you in the face. Android, iOS, Linux and MacOS. Microsoft has lost it's foothold on the tech world and it's burying itself more swiftly than anyone could have helped. Name a function and it can be done on one of those platforms and very well. Even gaming.

This is of course if you assume that traditional desktops are going to go away. Despite the recent hype that mobile devices, tablets, etc. are going to replace the desktop as we know it I just don't see that happening. The desktop is king, it will always be king. When people need to do real work (or real gaming) they go to the desktop. Sure, mobile devices can be used for some situations but more often than not people go to the good old desktop with the keyboard and mouse to get things done.

Android really isn't a desktop OS, it was never designed to be one. About the only OS that has come from Google that can be a real contender on the desktop front is ChromeOS and that's only because recently people can use traditional Android apps in a window on ChromeOS which makes it feel more like a desktop OS. As for iOS, it's come a long way with the introduction of iOS 11 but I still feel that it's just not quite up to the usability and productivity standards of a traditional desktop OS. I can't blame Apple here, morphing iOS on the iPad into having a more desktop-feel would eat into their MacOS platform and they don't to do want that (at least not yet). Do I see iOS eventually being the standard OS in the Apple world? Eventually but not any time soon.

 

[trparky]

Google has something called Project Fuchsia that's eventually going to replace Android as we know it today but that's a few years off. One of the key elements of Project Fuchsia is that they are building an entirely new OS minus the Linux part. Android's major issues with the lack of updates across the ecosystem comes from the fact that it's what the industry refers to as a "monolithic" system. Everything is part of the core system. If you want to change even one part of the system you have to change the core code. The code in Android is not at all modular like it is in the Windows world in which you can simply plug in what you need and Windows takes it in as part of itself.

Part of this stems from the fact that Linux isn't modular, the kernel itself is one giant monolithic kernel with everything that it needs to run as part of the core code. Drivers are even part of the core code which doesn't make it very transportable from one type of platform to another. There's really no way to plug in a driver into the Linux kernel like one can on Windows and MacOS due to Linux not having which is commonly referred to as an ABI or Application Binary Interface. On Windows you can load DLL and SYS files into the system and the kernel loads them into kernel space to drive the hardware. MacOS has almost the same concept with KEXTs. Linux has no such implementation.

This is the reason why Android is stuck on "long term" versions of the Linux kernel. Nougat is finally getting Linux kernel version 4.4.1 which is what people refer to as LTS or "Long Term Support". Meanwhile if you look at Kernel.org you'll find that the latest stable Linux kernel release version is 4.12.2. The reason this is so is because getting things to play nice with the Linux kernel isn't at all very easy. Qualcomm drivers for instance are for the most part binary-only packages, they have been built against Linux kernel version 4.4.1 and if you attempt to try and load them into anything newer than that it tends to fall apart because, you guessed it, there's no ABI or standard API to be able to plug into the Linux kernel.