Windows 10 Test Version Comes With its Own Keylogger - Update

[Nurb]

Are there really going to be ads and shit like that in the OS itself?

 

[Mromson]

Yeah, I won't be picking up Windows 10. No way in hell. Once my Windows 7 becomes old enough, I'll just go back to Linux or SteamOS.

 

[aceman67]

If this "feature" were to stay in Win10, Microsoft wouldn't be able to sell it in Canada since it would be a blatant violation of the Canadian Privacy Act, and no amount of finagling of a TOU would bypass it.

 

[RandV80]

It's understandable that the 'key logger' part is there for beta purposes only, and can be confirmed if this was standard in previous Windows beta's (I have no idea). That's just too big a security risk and more importantly too big a liability to keep things in there. What do you thinks going to happen if someone finds an exploit to access this data through no fault of the user and starts logging bank logins and credit card info? I don't think Microsoft could EULA their way out of that one.

More concerning however is that talk about recording user habits and market research. Is our OS going to try to be First Google turned into Facebook, now is our OS going to try that to? This concept is less a stretch because you just know that the shareholders would love to get their dirty mits on all that sweet market research & advertising money, if they can get away with it without hurting the bottom line.

 

[J Tyran]

Ehhhh.
Its not in Microsoft's best interests to go around hijacking my bank account, and I couldn't care less if they collect every fetish porn search query I try to put into google. Sure its not a positive, but I don't get why everyone gets so antsy about their privacy in situations like this. The same thing happened with kinect a while back. Its not like they are going to go and post all my dirty secrets everywhere. Sure they could. But why would they? And if they did who would care?
Don't get me wrong. Its definitely a little bit of a turn off for trying the test version. But I wouldn't lose any sleep if I had gone and used it for a while before being told about this.

It might not be in Microsofts interest to hack your bank account or steal your identity but it might be in one of their employees interest, how do you know who has access to the data at the company? Staff working for corporations have been involved in scams and identity theft schemes that abused the data they had access to, its not within the realms of impossibility the same could happen with Microsoft too.

All it takes is one broke/disgruntled/substance dependant/indebted to a loan shark employee and they can abuse the resources and data their employer gives them access to, it does happen.

When it comes to your porn habits I wouldn't really care as long as no-one is hurt or exploited, you might not be bothered that faceless people in a corporation know either. Thing is there are people that will despise you for it, there are people that want to make it illegal.

Sometimes those people get into government, or get influence on government and next thing you know streaming transexual video game cosplay furry porn is illegal and Microsoft have been handing all that data over to the government.

"It doesn't happen here" is not a defence, it can happen. It does happen around the world too, even if your government wouldn't what happens if the details get stored on a data base and there is a war and the occupying government wants to put everyone with obscure tastes to death? Even the most innocent seeming data collection has been abused that way in history.

What happens to our data and who stores it in this modern world is important, people like you have allowed this continual creep of what is judged as acceptable. Today we live in a world that is beyond Orwellian because of this attitude, George Orwell never even conceived of just how invasive data collection could be.

Yet people are letting it happen because "no-one really cares about what I do" when some people do, they really, really care.

 

[FEichinger]

Data collection in a testing version of an OS? Terrible! Grab the pitchforks!

Facebook? Still popular as ever. Google is still a constant visit. Chrome is surpassing Firefox. And your pretty anti-tracking browser extensions don't do jack shit against any of those.

"Oh, but they can get my passwords!" ... So can your browser. In fact, how many of the people so up in arms about the W10 test now are still letting the browser store their passwords?

If any software were to submit actual password data to another entity, or storing it in an unsafe way locally, you will hear about it, and chances are no EULA will protect the company in question from it unless it was a genuine bug (and even then, one might argue whether that's sufficient protection). Condemning W10 purely because of the test version having a clause in its testing agreement (mind you, not even any observed transmissions, just a clause in the agreement) is ridiculous, and any article essentially promoting that is fear-mongering at best.

Heck, we had another scare article just the other day about USB. Can we please stop pretending CompSci was 'zeh dark magicks'?

Edit: On that note, remember Heartbleed? You know, the one where pentesters were never actually able to reproduce a leaked password? It was a technical possibility, but no reported cases of it ever being successful? And yet, the media perpetuated that it was the worst vulnerability EVAR. Bullshit.

 

[Kargathia]

I guess I am just in the minority, but I read a most of the EULA's that are presented to me and I guess that is why I found it hilarious when people were going crazy over EA's Origin EULA, but perfectly fine with Steam's.

The original Origin EULA stated that they could collect data on whatever other programs you were running at the time - and was sufficiently vague to raise suspicion they were actually giving themselves leeway to collect info on not only what you were running, but what you were doing with them.

They withdrew that specific part, and brought it in line with comparable (Steam) eula's, but the PR damage had been done.

If this "feature" were to stay in Win10, Microsoft wouldn't be able to sell it in Canada since it would be a blatant violation of the Canadian Privacy Act, and no amount of finagling of a TOU would bypass it.

It'd need to be challenged in court first before anything were to happen.

There's a good many clauses in EULA's/TOU's that are downright illegal under laws in various European countries, but nothing much is happening.

 

[K-lusive]

Like what has been said before; it;s just the beta for now.
The only thing I dont like is how MS seems to be making these OS's mainly for handheld devices, the flat tile layout, calling all programs Apps now.. I supose it's just semantics right now.. Win8 felt like an OS they made for tablets and had EA port for PC though so perhaps it will all be fine in the end

 

[Uhuru N'Uru]

At least you have an understandable reason for it. I only started using windows 8 because I needed to get a new desktop as the old one had essentially become unworkable. I guess I will have to wait and hope someone makes an addon that gives the UI a better look. I don't understand Microsofts obsession with this bland tile stuff and I probably never will.

You can still get Windows 7, I plan to grab Windows 7 Pro soon for this laptop that 10 is installed on although I must admit the performance of 10 is good so if Stardock or someone else gives some nice visual improvements I might be more open to switching, as you can see in my screen shot tiles aren't a big issue as you can just get rid of them.

They don't tell you but you can switch OS to 7 when you buy a new PC.
People thinking they have no choice is only reason 8 has as many sales as it does.
It makes no difference to the retailers costs which you choose, they are charged the same.

 

[FalloutJack]

I don't think Microsoft is stupid enough to actually try to pull the things people are worried about here. I could expect this kind of thing from Google, but Microsoft's PR is in full damage control right now, hence they're giving this OS away for free.

Doing something as Orwellian sounding as recording your every key-press would be the kiss of death at this point.

Lately, they've been clutching the idiot ball so hard that it's popped. I wouldn't put it past them.

Windows 7 had the same "feature", and like in Windows 7, you can probably turn it off. I love the freak out on this. They are telling you exactly what it's for.

Like Google and the NSA, right? I'm fairly certain that's not in 7, though.

OT: And just like that, Microsoft validated my prediction that even-numbered OSs always suck. They skipped 9 to avoid a programming issue and now here we are. No, Microsoft, this is not a good idea. Too invasive. You don't have a right to any of this crap, no matter the justificaton. Stop trying to foist stuff on the user.

 

[Olas]

I don't think Microsoft is stupid enough to actually try to pull the things people are worried about here. I could expect this kind of thing from Google, but Microsoft's PR is in full damage control right now, hence they're giving this OS away for free.

Doing something as Orwellian sounding as recording your every key-press would be the kiss of death at this point.

Lately, they've been clutching the idiot ball so hard that it's popped. I wouldn't put it past them.

Examples? I know some people didn't care for the design of Windows 8 but besides that I think they've been on a role, primarily because they can't afford to screw up.

 

[FalloutJack]

I don't think Microsoft is stupid enough to actually try to pull the things people are worried about here. I could expect this kind of thing from Google, but Microsoft's PR is in full damage control right now, hence they're giving this OS away for free.

Doing something as Orwellian sounding as recording your every key-press would be the kiss of death at this point.

Lately, they've been clutching the idiot ball so hard that it's popped. I wouldn't put it past them.

Examples? I know some people didn't care for the design of Windows 8 but besides that I think they've been on a role, primarily because they can't afford to screw up.

Okay, Windows 8 is the easy target, but it's not some. The tablet function pretty much interfered with anybody who did not own a tablet and/or did not want to use a tablet function. Those putting it into total Windows mode found certain things lacking, like the ability to shut down. Also, as opposed to previous versions which do not allow you to wait on a system restart after installing an update, Windows 8 would more-or-less inconvenience you no matter what, taking the reigns out of the user's hands. And those issues are the ones I KNOW about as a non-user of 8. I'm sure my brother, who fixes computers, could tell me a fair few more. (Needless to say, this house does not use Windows 8.)

Other idiot balls...

Well, the tablet itself didn't go down as well as expected. I'm afraid I know even less details on the matter, but I know it's not a big seller because it does not really compare with competitors in capability. It is pretty much like the Zune of tablets. It works, but it doesn't work in a manner well enough to be worth mentioniing. It's basically sub-par and seen as yet another attempt to clone the competition to seek money.

Speaking of clones, let's turn to X-Box. The X-series has always had its ups and downs, overall. Really bad luck with all the RRODs of the original eras. But then, we come to the X-Bone, which of course has had so much bad management, PR, programming, and so on that I call it a divine miracle that it has managed to sell in quantity. I was ready to give EA's golden poo over to Microsoft for how they handled that. Even though they sold a bunch of them, the entire trainwreck has most certainly costed them in clients and credibility.

Now, you may be right, but I've been watching companies committed PR suicide a while, and the cynic in me says that they're not done being collective doofuses.

 

[Olas]

I don't think Microsoft is stupid enough to actually try to pull the things people are worried about here. I could expect this kind of thing from Google, but Microsoft's PR is in full damage control right now, hence they're giving this OS away for free.

Doing something as Orwellian sounding as recording your every key-press would be the kiss of death at this point.

Lately, they've been clutching the idiot ball so hard that it's popped. I wouldn't put it past them.

Examples? I know some people didn't care for the design of Windows 8 but besides that I think they've been on a role, primarily because they can't afford to screw up.

Okay, Windows 8 is the easy target, but it's not some. The tablet function pretty much interfered with anybody who did not own a tablet and/or did not want to use a tablet function. Those putting it into total Windows mode found certain things lacking, like the ability to shut down.

The ability to shut down? Windows 8 has always had a shut down button, now it has several, regardless of what "mode" you're in. On the desktop windows 8 is hardly any different than windows 7, and the few things that are different are clear improvements, like a better taskbar and more functional windows explorer.

The only thing I don't like about Windows 8 is the weird way in which apps work outside the desktop, but that's only a problem if you use the apps to begin with, which aren't even available on the previous OS.

Other idiot balls...

Well, the tablet itself didn't go down as well as expected. I'm afraid I know even less details on the matter, but I know it's not a big seller because it does not really compare with competitors in capability. It is pretty much like the Zune of tablets. It works, but it doesn't work in a manner well enough to be worth mentioniing. It's basically sub-par and seen as yet another attempt to clone the competition to seek money.

Ah yes, the Zune. Basically an iPod with a bigger screen, more storage, and better audio quality that cost about $100 less, and had a service that let you download unlimited music. Ha! Who would want that piece of shit?

For the record I owned both an iPod and a Zune, and used both for a while.

Speaking of clones, let's turn to X-Box. The X-series has always had its ups and downs, overall. Really bad luck with all the RRODs of the original eras. But then, we come to the X-Bone, which of course has had so much bad management, PR, programming, and so on that I call it a divine miracle that it has managed to sell in quantity. I was ready to give EA's golden poo over to Microsoft for how they handled that. Even though they sold a bunch of them, the entire trainwreck has most certainly costed them in clients and credibility.

I'll give you Xbox, I'm completely indifferent to it frankly, that goes for all consoles.

 

[FalloutJack]

Shoobie

If they updated Windows 8 in view of the complaints, then GOOD, but it was still a thing.

Zune was not, as I recall, a better product or seller. The system by which it handled MP3s and such was not as good.

The point is that I see a pattern and people often repeat a pattern, that's all.