Cortana Is Listening

Page 6 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
I thought that was something you would want secured ?? but you know how many run or got steam installed and read there eula

''The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

For reasons that include, without limitation, system security, stability, and multiplayer interoperability, Steam may need to automatically update, pre-load, create new versions of or otherwise enhance the Content and Services and accordingly, the system requirements to use the Content and Services may change over time. You consent to such automatic updating.''

changes to system security ??? ''without limitation,'' I guess youi do understand whay that means to you and your harddrive and whats on it , right ??

those who silly enugh to agree to that may as well load 10 and all its features

@ ffejster25 - like everyone else your arm so far was not twisted to install 10 ???
 


I have heard most games run better on 10 than 8.1 or 7. I think it might be due to WDDM 2.0 which alone is able to lower the CPU utilization which could be why games are running a bit better as there would be inherently less CPU overhead so your GPU will be able to do a bit more work. DX12 needs WDDM 2.0 and will build upon that to lower CPU overhead and increase performance even more. I have even seen this myself in Batman AK which I get a more consistent FPS in with 10 than 8.1.

Not sure why your Corsair Link is not working. I did a clean install and Corsair Link runs fine for both my AXi and H100i. Have you uninstalled it and reinstalled the latest one from Corsairs Website?



You sound like someone who should not be connected then.

And in the end if you ever read any Windows EULA, you have never actually owned a Windows OS but rather the license to use that OS. It is pretty much the same with any software, you own a license that allows you to use said software which can be revoked at any time.

And you can either have auto updates or manually do it and maybe forget and have a possibly less secure version.

It is interesting. I guess people forget how rare it was to get any sort of patches or updates for their software up until 10 years ago.

I dare you to go and actually read the EULAs for all of your big software.
 
if I did not read them [eulas] do you think I would be able to pull them things up to post or know where to look to find what I wanrt to point out from one ??? as far as patches and up dates I choose if I want them again not forced on me they were real easy to get I never had a issue if one was needed ..

''You sound like someone who should not be connected then.''
I can connect all I want don't affect my software at all

all my software is fully on retail disks so how will it be revoked ??? come here to the house and ask for there disk back??? see no internet connection required - no 3ed party involvement or clients nothing

you guys just don't realize how much of your self you give away -- like steam games you pay for nothing you got nothing but steam looking over your shoulder at all times .. with out them you don't load or play there client / accounts comes first -- sure you buy games on a disk but really all you got was a steam type client cause you got to connect to them in order to use it and download content - every time .. I don't need any of that just load and go forever

 


Any software that uses a licensing server. Most software these days do so there are features in place that block the use of said software if they are not activated right away or within a certain amount of time. Windows is a key example of that or most new Adobe products.

As for Steam, I do pay something. I purchase the games which pays Steam. And for the most part the EULA you were quoting was them putting in a clause for the auto updating feature of Steam. They have a hardware survey that runs but only if you say yes to it.

You can easily find any EULA for any software. You really should read them.
 


Do you use any Microsoft OS later than DOS 6.22?
 
what are you trying to say ?? like this windows xp-vista or 7 ??? lets see I don't need to be on line for nothing with it do I ??? loads up from the disk activates from a phone call so that never has to see it ?? don't need updates cause that for the most part there for things you get issues/exploits from being on line ??

'' I do pay something. I purchase the games which pays Steam'' no you rent qames see my games are fully on the disk no accounts - no clients no nothing I hold the full game nothing from then is that way you will all ways need to go back to them for a reinstall or something you hold nothing but a steam client they got full control not you ....

let me ask you this with 10 you can postpone forced updats for a limited amount of times . ok so when times up then what you don't accept them and does Microsoft turn features off like if you don't activate older windows ?? any one know what the policy or penalty is on that deal ?? so now you take them forced updaters and one is bad as we all know Microsoft botched a few along the way then what ?? computer is bricked or rendered unusable what do you do then ? twiddle your thumbs until they get aroungd to fix it ?? cant remove it cause you used all your postpone limits it will just relosd it right back up , right cause that what you agreed to

''Updates. The softwareperiodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you. You may obtain updates only from Microsoft or authorized sources, and Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates. By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice.''


•Windows 10 Home users will receive updates from Windows Update automatically when it’s available. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the ability to postpone updates. The amount of time that Windows 10 Pro users can postpone updates is limited.

not only wats reported and discussed here but all over the web on all these concerns just tell me don't do it - if your running a solid stable fully working and supported copy of 7 your nuts to overwrite it for 10 and sure as heck not as a stand alone os -- theres no good reason to do 10 at all ?? dx12 ?? big deal whats out there your using that with ?? nothing look at dx9 its still used today in games as well so that cant be it ??

I guess to each his own I'm not ready to just roll over for something like that [10] and I see clearly through the smoke there blowing

so if your enjoying 10 more power to ya

I like this part

Finally, we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to:
1.comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies;
2.protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of the services, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;
3.operate and maintain the security of our services, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
4.protect the rights or property of Microsoft, including enforcing the terms governing the use of the services - however, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property of Microsoft, we will not inspect a customer's private content ourselves, but we may refer the matter to law enforcement.

Please note that some of our services include links to services of third parties whose privacy practices differ from Microsoft's. If you provide personal data to any of those services, your data is governed by their privacy statements.

 
Wait Google (OK Google) and apple (siri) have had the same functionality and capturing the same data for much longer than Microsoft has with cortana. Why now the concern and only directed to one company?
 


Except they aren't. Google and Apple collect usage date but then it gets anonymized locally. Server side all they are storing is hash's and metadata that isn't linked back to an individual. Once you install Windows 10 and link it to a MS account, they have a record of everything you are doing. Not just browsing the internet, but every application you open, how long you opened it, what files you worked on, what you did with those files and what's the content of those files. This btw is completely separate from Cortana. Cortana is just a UI element that analyzes the data MS has already collected and attempts to find ways to make that data useful to you. This data isn't anonymized, it's stored on the MS server for an indefinite amount of time and is freely available for them, or anyone in the government, to use for whatever purpose they want.

In the past it took a human combing through information in order to make it useful and thus information collecting had to be targeted and specific. Now computing power has hit such a level that it's possible for a program to run every night that combs through all the collected data and pulls out reports and targeted hit lists.

If that doesn't send shivers down people's spines then they really are living as sheep.
 


Google is just as bad or worse:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/14/google-gmail-users-privacy-email-lawsuit

That alone shows that Google has very little concern for privacy and I remember when that came out people were up in a roar about it yet now they have moved on to the next big thing which is Windows 10. Hell Google was the one who bypassed the Do Not Track basically saying that your privacy did not matter to them and Microsoft had to make a specific Google DnT TPL list (which I still use to this day in IE).

junkeymoneky, as I said you really need to look at what you use and how they use it. You have already agreed to many things like you are angry about in Windows 10. DO you have any Adobe products? Most of them push updates now automatically. Firefox and Chrome do as well, only Chrome tracks the crap out of you.
 
Change your region and language to Canada it doesn't work. I had to change my system to US for it to enable Cortana
 
I turned Cortana off.

1) I do not desire to talk to my computer

2) I don't like Bing. Cortana uses Bing and I can't change it to use Google

3) Windows 10 Search includes the internet as well as my computer for my search query. I don't want search to include the internet. If I want to search the internet I'll use a browser.

Turning off the internet search and Cortana hasn't hindered my use of Windows 10 at all.
 
Funny thing MS spoke about all these things of how your information will be collected with Cortana at MS 2014 windows 10 build. If you don't want Cortana listening turn off the "hey Cortana " feature and don't use the edge browser or bing search if you think they sell your info to advertisers like google that you probably still use.
Why is it that humans tend to fear what is not.
 
I have no interest in this or any other voice activated assistant.

Can you imagine a room full of people all asking "* call my home", "* what is the weather going to be", etc. And instead of giving you a correct response * says "I'm sorry did you mean...?"
 


Uh, that would be because Tom's is about PC's not MAC's.
 
locate your Group Policy Editor and turn all that crap off. look through Management Console, Services, Administrative Tools, everywhere you always had to go to shut down Windows Services you didn't need and just start disabling. a lot of junk was running on 7 and 8 that you didn't need and had to find to turn off also.
if you don't like the fact that it's up to you to disable what you don't want then find another OS.
 
i've turned off a bunch of stuff but ran into some conflicts. seems like once again they have made sevices dependent on unrelated ones so you can't turn them off. was bad in win 7 and much worse now. still working on what i can and can't turn off and once i have some stuff figured out, i'll be happy to share what i have figured out. i started with lists from win 7 and 8 that were safe to turn off and then explored from there.

i have win 7 very lite now and hope to eventually get win 10 as lite if not more. what will be awesome is when someone updates the r-lite type utilities to simply edit the install files to just delete cortana and all that jazz before you even do the install. i always play with those to tone down the installers a lot and look forward to doing it for this one as well.

i have win 7 so lite it fit onto a cd at under 700 mb!! doubt win 10 will go that small but under 1 gb is a decent goal i am guessing :)
 


...


How the heck is google reading your email the same as MS tracking every application you run on your desktop, how long you run that application, what files you open with that application and everything else you do with your computer. Those are two entirely different orders of magnitudes.

With google you can chose to not use gmail, to use any number of separate internet mail providers, or run your own mail server with a MX record on something like godaddy or dyndns. Any of those solutions would provide you with email connectivity with 100% of the world. With MS on the other hand, you can't chose to use a different OS without sacrificing the sheer volume of previous software. Thankfully Windows 7 didn't come with such abusive tracking options, so people can continue to use it for the time being. Unfortunately DX12 looks to not be available for anything before Windows 10, which puts anyone who plays games into a serious situation. We just need to hang on until the wave of outcry results in the next Service Pack having the option to permanently disable all the tracking framework.
 
i doubt they will ever disable the stuff from within. even with the outcry, it has been proven that none of these companies actually cares about user privacy. they may make a token effort to turn off a couple things but in the end it won't change much. to use cortana the way it is intended does require such access to your pc. same as other digital assistants. but ti should not require the collection if you don't chose to use cortana which it currently does.

in the end it will be the community that will make it an option before MS/Google/Apple do it themselves.
 


To be fair I'm not even talking about Cortana, that's just a bit of software laid on top of that observation framework. The absolute worst thing someone can do is link their login to a MS account. Keep the account a local one and you remove much of the overt risk, though it'll still try to collect usage data just not have a real person to connect it with. I figure we'll eventually have a full tool that blocks network access from the internal tool, similar to what McAfee HIPS does.
 
very true. my insider build is linked but that pc has little on it and exists right now to play around with it and see what it can do.

the other pc's with it are not linked at all to an account since i figured this was not a good idea for exactly why you stated :)


as a side note, since the eula stated it "can" locate and disable/uninstall pirated stuff i wonder if that feature will be used to try and block the blocking software that shows up. just wondering if ms cares enough to bother trying to block things like this. kind of like the cat and mouse jailbreaking game that apple plays with the jailbreakers. i am assuming any blocking will have to be an exploit rather than overt software that just blocks the traffic (not sure that will work anymore)
 
While I agree that the whole privacy thing is bad, what would you think if MS was actually using the data to make windows better ? They do seem to be pretty out of touch with some simple facts such as:

People want their OS to run their software as quickly as possible.

They want to choose their own apps vs having it bundled with the OS.

I'd have no problem if they used collected data to actually get rid of crap and have a smaller footprint; If they used the data to see what hardware people are using for the purpose of drivers and cutting unneeded legacy code out. Of course it should be anonomized then deleted after a reasonable time such as a year.



 


If Linux graphics drivers, OpenGL, and game library was anywhere near MS Windows then I would of switched to CENTOS a long time ago. As it stands I need MS Windows to play games, which is what makes Windows 10 required for DX12 so dreadful. DX12 has a huge array of performance improvements and new features that will really let games shine, but I won't be accepting an OS that is actively spying on me. It's like having a MS employee standing over your should 24/7 watching everything you do and writing it down.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom