Microsoft is installing the Windows 10 privacy problems on Windows 7 and 8

Microsoft is installing the Windows 10 privacy problems on Windows 7 and 8
September 1, 2015
By Justin Ferris

The new Windows 10, like any new version of Windows, has stirred up its fair share of controversy. It's fast, secure, has a promising new default browser, brought back the Start Menu and overall manages to create a nice blend of the best features of Windows 7 and 8.

Unfortunately, it also brought with it a loss of control over updates and quite a few privacy concerns. From the personal assistant Cortana learning everything about your life to phoning home even when it shouldn't, Microsoft's default settings leave something to be desired. That's why some people are sticking with earlier versions of Windows for now, but that might not help as much as they think.

A few of the latest updates in Windows 7 and 8 include some of Windows 10's tracking features. These are listed as "Diagnostic and Telemetry" tracking, which let Microsoft know what goes wrong with your system or other points of data Microsoft can use to improve Windows in the future.

Most of this information doesn't really endanger your privacy, and Microsoft already has customer experience and troubleshooting tracking built into Windows 7 and 8. Of course, it generally asks before sending information to Microsoft, unlike the new updates.

Still, one of the new updates does tell Microsoft what kind of programs are triggering the User Account Controls (that message that a program needs administrator permission to install, run or change settings). That can give Microsoft an idea of what kind of programs you run.

The updates in question are KB3068708, KB3022345, KB3075249 and KB3080149. To see if they are installed, go to Control Panel>>System and Security. Then under "Windows Update," click the "View installed updates" link.

Scroll down to the "Microsoft Windows" section. If they're installed, they'll be in the August batch of updates. Once you find them, you can remove them without a problem.

If you don't see them, or only see one, the rest are listed as Optional and Recommended updates and your computer might not install those automatically. If not, then you don't have to worry about them.

Of course, there's nothing to say Microsoft won't start slipping more tracking features into future updates. If it does, we'll let you know so you can take steps to protect your privacy.

http://www.komando.com/happening-now/323706/microsoft-is-installing-the-windows-10-privacy-problems-on-windows-7-and-8/all


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Report: World’s 1st remote brain surgery via 5G network performed in China

World’s 1st remote brain surgery via 5G network performed in China Published time: 17 Mar, 2019 13:12 ·           A Chinese surgeon has performed the world’s first remote brain surgery using 5G technology, with the patient 3,000km away from the operating doctor. Dr. Ling Zhipei remotely implanted a neurostimulator into his patient’s brain on Saturday, Chinese state-run media  reports . The surgeon manipulated the instruments in the Beijing-based PLAGH hospital from a clinic subsidiary on the southern Hainan island, located 3,000km away. The surgery is said to have lasted three hours and ended successfully. The patient, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, is said to be feeling well after the pioneering operation. The doctor used a computer connected to the next-generation 5G network developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei. The new device enabled a near real-time connection, according to Dr. Ling.  “You barely feel that the patient is 3,000 kilometers away,”  he said.
Read more

BMW traps alleged thief by remotely locking him in car

BMW traps alleged thief by remotely locking him in car Stealer's Wheel? Seattle police department quotes "Watchmen" movie in a recap of the recent arrest. Tech Culture by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper December 4, 2016 5:00 PM PST It's maybe the most satisfying arrest we can imagine. Seattle police caught an alleged car thief by enlisting the help of car maker BMW to both track and then remotely lock the luckless criminal in the very car he was trying to steal. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, deputy director of communications for the Seattle Police Department, posted a witty summary of the event on the SPD's blog on Wednesday. Turns out if you're inside a stolen car, it's perhaps not the best time to take a nap. "A car thief awoke from a sound slumber Sunday morning (Nov. 27) to find he had been remotely locked inside a stolen BMW, just as Seattle police officers were bearing down on him," Spangenthal-Lee wrote. The suspect found a ke
Read more

Visualizing The Power Of The World's Supercomputers

Visualizing The Power Of The World's Supercomputers   BY TYLER DURDEN FRIDAY, JAN 21, 2022 - 04:15 AM   A supercomputer is a machine that is built to handle billions, if not trillions of calculations at once. Each supercomputer is actually made up of many individual computers (known as nodes) that work together in parallel. A common metric for measuring the performance of these machines is  flops , or  floating point operations per second . In this visualization,  Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu uses  November 2021 data from  TOP500  to visualize the computing power of the world’s top five supercomputers. For added context, a number of modern consumer devices were included in the comparison. Ranking by Teraflops Because supercomputers can achieve over one quadrillion flops, and consumer devices are much less powerful, we’ve used  teraflops  as our comparison metric. 1 teraflop = 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) flops. Supercomputer Fugaku  was completed in March 202
Read more