Windows 10 found talking to remote servers despite privacy settings
Although most of the traffic appears to be innocuous, Windows 10 is still communicating with Microsoft servers even when many data privacy settings are on, a report observed on Thursday.
Image Credit: ArsTechnica
After disabling the operating system's Cortana assistant, and Web searches run from the Start menu, Windows 10 will still send requests to bing.com for a file with Cortana data, ArsTechnica noted. Attached to the request is a random machine ID that persists between sessions.
Elsewhere, even without live tiles pinned to the Start menu, the operating system will periodically download new tile data from Microsoft over an unencrypted HTTP connection. When using HTTP and HTTPS proxies, Windows 10 is said to bypass those connections to make requests from a content delivery network.
When connecting to a new network, Windows attempts to fetch two text files, one for IPv4 and another for IPv6, in an attempt to gauge whether that network is connected to the Internet. Such requests are however stripped-down -- not even including a machine ID -- and can be completely shut off with some technical knowledge.
A more serious issue is communication with what's believed to be a server for OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage network. Windows sends some unknown data to the server, even when OneDrive is disabled and a computer has a local-only login, ArsTechnica said. The data may involve telemetry settings, which can again be disabled by technically savvy users.
A Microsoft spokesperson reportedly explained that at least some of the controversial data involves updating Bing search, for instance to add new styles and search code.
"No query or search usage data is sent to Microsoft, in accordance with the customer's chosen privacy settings," the person said. "This also applies to searching offline for items such as apps, files and settings on the device."
Windows 10 has generally met with favorable reviews, but critics have complained that by default it shares more data than most operating systems, including Windows 8.1 or OS X Yosemite. Much of this can be turned off, but users have to make a conscious choice.
Image Credit: ArsTechnica
After disabling the operating system's Cortana assistant, and Web searches run from the Start menu, Windows 10 will still send requests to bing.com for a file with Cortana data, ArsTechnica noted. Attached to the request is a random machine ID that persists between sessions.
Elsewhere, even without live tiles pinned to the Start menu, the operating system will periodically download new tile data from Microsoft over an unencrypted HTTP connection. When using HTTP and HTTPS proxies, Windows 10 is said to bypass those connections to make requests from a content delivery network.
When connecting to a new network, Windows attempts to fetch two text files, one for IPv4 and another for IPv6, in an attempt to gauge whether that network is connected to the Internet. Such requests are however stripped-down -- not even including a machine ID -- and can be completely shut off with some technical knowledge.
A more serious issue is communication with what's believed to be a server for OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage network. Windows sends some unknown data to the server, even when OneDrive is disabled and a computer has a local-only login, ArsTechnica said. The data may involve telemetry settings, which can again be disabled by technically savvy users.
A Microsoft spokesperson reportedly explained that at least some of the controversial data involves updating Bing search, for instance to add new styles and search code.
"No query or search usage data is sent to Microsoft, in accordance with the customer's chosen privacy settings," the person said. "This also applies to searching offline for items such as apps, files and settings on the device."
Windows 10 has generally met with favorable reviews, but critics have complained that by default it shares more data than most operating systems, including Windows 8.1 or OS X Yosemite. Much of this can be turned off, but users have to make a conscious choice.
Comments
Is still
Windows.
Same crap that pushed me right to a Mac in the mid 90s. In terms of culture, attention to design, and the (de)humanizing of interfaces meant to be used by actual PEOPLE... it's the same company. Very little has changed.
When Microsoft closes a Window, it opens a backdoor...
I installed Windows 10 on my work computer. I was a little shocked at the privacy questions and settings that were presented during the install. I of course turned all requests for data to off. This article is disturbing but not entirely surprising. I had issues with booting 10, it would take two attempts to happen. My Office 2013 kept having issues that required me to repair the installation. I downloaded the first update for 10 that I was presented with and it broke Office again. Doing a repair on Office requires a reboot and this time my computer would not boot. The only thing, and thankfully so, that MS seems to have gotten right on this release was that going back to Windows 7 was seamless. I personally left the Windows world with the introduction of Vista. Strangely, their was a part of me that hoped Windows 10 would be a good thing. Alas, new CEO same old story.
including... OS X Yosemite.
Not being a "technically savvy user", technically, now I'd sort-of like to find out what info that is...
[quote]If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
[/quote]
Problem: solved. /s
At this point it just doesn't matter if it's nefarious or simply a lack of attention to detail, it's still Windows being Windows and MS being MS. As Jobs astutely put it so long ago, "Microsoft has no taste."
At this point it just doesn't matter if it's nefarious or simply a lack of attention to detail, it's still Windows being Windows and MS being MS. As Jobs astutely put it so long ago, "Microsoft has no taste."
I wonder if MS is headed down the path of deliberate Google-ifcation (for personal data mining).
That wouldn't sit well with corporate accounts.
I wonder if MS is headed down the path of deliberate Google-ifcation (for personal data mining).
That wouldn't sit well with corporate accounts.
Why not? MS could just sell them protection from themselves...
"And the Premium Package includes..."
Quote:
I wonder if MS is headed down the path of deliberate Google-ifcation (for personal data mining).
Pretty ballsy considering their whole "Scroogled" ad campaign.
Pretty ballsy considering their whole "Scroogled" ad campaign.
Ha! I forgot about that. But that was under Ballmer. I guess Nadella embraces Google-ifcation now.
At this point it just doesn't matter if it's nefarious or simply a lack of attention to detail, it's still Windows being Windows and MS being MS. As Jobs astutely put it so long ago, "Microsoft has no taste."
Quote:
I wonder if MS is headed down the path of deliberate Google-ifcation (for personal data mining).
That wouldn't sit well with corporate accounts.
Agreed, along with government accounts (especially in supposed US allies still reeling from the Snowden disclosures), and especially multimedia firms concerned about becoming the next Sony, this apparent data mining of end users has got to leave some customers questioning how secure the OS is, even compared to previous Windows versions.
My though is that Microsoft is an engineering culture that treats design as "window dressing" (pun not intended), and not a contract or promise to delight the user.
One of the Microsoft "duh" ideas that they copied from OS X was when you select a file name to rename it, it doesn't auto-select the entire file name, including the extension and then after you type the new name, Windows asks if you really want to change the file extension because that would break things, and give you a yes/no choice. Then you realize your mistake and it completely reverts your change, only now you have to do it again, but remember to deselect the extension before typing the new name. Yes, I am fully aware Microsoft's newer Windows copies OS X's feature of only selecting file name but not the extension when you want to rename a file, but there are many more places where Windows is still clunky and stupid. And I'm not even counting any of the half-baked touch screen "Modern" UI they injected into Windows 8 trying to dress a PC like an iPad.
Two words: Little Snitch.
Two words: Little Snitch.
Every OS and app calls home by default. In Windows 10, Windows updates are automatic and mandatory. The only way to stop it is not be connected to the internet, which is impossible for most people, because that is what they do with their computer. I wonder how this works for secure installations like the government, military and banks.
"Houston we have lift off. Oh wait, scratch that. Windows is updating."
My though is that Microsoft is an engineering culture that treats design as "window dressing" (pun not intended), and not a contract or promise to delight the user.
One of the Microsoft "duh" ideas that they copied from OS X was when you select a file name to rename it, it doesn't auto-select the entire file name, including the extension and then after you type the new name, Windows asks if you really want to change the file extension because that would break things, and give you a yes/no choice. Then you realize your mistake and it completely reverts your change, only now you have to do it again, but remember to deselect the extension before typing the new name. Yes, I am fully aware Microsoft's newer Windows copies OS X's feature of only selecting file name but not the extension when you want to rename a file, but there are many more places where Windows is still clunky and stupid. And I'm not even counting any of the half-baked touch screen "Modern" UI they injected into Windows 8 trying to dress a PC like an iPad.
Interesting on how now OS X copied Windows with Snap Assist and Side by Side Applications in iOS. Or things where MS is ahead of Apple like the great stylus the Surface have for note taking and drawing compared to the, like you mentioned, clunky and stupid stylus options for the iPad.
IMO, what MS is doing with Surface, Office 2016 and their cloud services is ahead and "more delightful" compared to what Apple offers. The only thing I see Apple is doing better is in the iPhone. Let's how it compares to Windows 10 for phone (or whatever it's called).
I think automatic Windows Update isn't mandatory on Windows 10 Enterprise, since the administrator can push down selected updates from their own WSUS server.
The problem is when students using Windows 10 Home needs to use their laptop for lessons or exam, and Windows Update suddenly appears (I've seen this happening several times)...
LOL You're comparing Windows desktop OS on a tablet (which MS started decades before Apple) with iOS.
LOL You're comparing Windows desktop OS on a tablet (which MS started decades before Apple) with iOS.
FYI, Windows 10 is the same OS, doesn't matter if it's running in an HP Z Workstation, a X1 Carbon or a Surface 3. In this case, it can be compared to an iPad since I was referring to the Surface, since both devices are similar to a some degree.
"Similar to some degree" can be said about pretty much everything, if not everything. The fact remains MS uses Windows desktop for their failing Surface division and that MS had options for styluses long before MS ever saw Apple reveal what was going to be the first successful tablet to hit the market.
Personally, I have been hoping for Apple to add a digitizer, framework and APIs to iOS for at least the iPad since it arrived, but that stuff takes work, but I'm sure that if and when Apple does offer that feature you'll be here to say how they are stealing from MS and then quote an out of context quote from Jobs about ever needing a stylus means you're doing it wrong to mock Apple.