Many people have questioned my statement that I will never use Windows 10. I decided to start a thread knowing full well what the results will be. So be it.
As many people try to derail other threads with this topic, I can now just post a link to this thread and let people debate it in its own area. [yesnod]
First, some history. Why? Because people have very short memories and context is everything.
PRISM - "a mechanism that allows the government to collect user data from companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, and others."
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/17/4517480/nsa-spying-prism-surveillance-cheat-sheet
PRISM was one of the first revelations to come from Edward Snowden. It showed that the US government was directly tapping into all major data centers. This was a result of the 9/11 attacks where legislation was pushed through to fight "terrorism." Using blanket (and secret) FISA court orders, the US government directly tapped into the databases of major corporations with data on any US citizens (and others) who had accounts there.
Now, I need to make a distinction. If you are a US citizen, you have protections under the US Constitution for Freedom of Speech and illegal search and seizure, among others. The US Government ignored those constitutional protections completely, but in theory you have them. If you're not an American, you have no rights under US law and your communications, all of them, are subject to interception without limit. This began happening, not after the 9/11 attacks but, in 1952 when the NSA was formed. For seventy years, the NSA has operated under a charter authorizing it to intercept or "collect" any foreign communications. Originally, this was designed to tap into other governments communications like Russia or China. As more people went online and with the establishment of "The Cloud," the NSA began to collect peoples personal data as well. If you sent a telegram, made a phone call, or sent a fax after 1952 outside of the US, or if it crossed a US border, it was probably collected, analyzed and scrutinized.
Back to PRISM. This was clearly an unconstitutional program spying on all Americans with an online presence, but the legislation was rammed through the US Congress and Senate "to fight terrorism." The secret orders that went with the FISA court orders did not allow any one in receipt of these orders to make any public comment and appeals were made in closed sessions of secret FISA courts. The story of Ladar Levison, founder of Lavabit shutting down his company to avoid violating his customers rights, is well known. This surveillance applied to members of the press and Congress as well.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/u...usses-pressure-from-fbi-to-disclose-data.html
James Clapper, head of the NSA, was called to Congress to account for the NSA's actions and lied, under oath, to not admit to unconstitutional actions. Although lying to congress is a felony, James Clapper hasn't spent a day in jail as I write this.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...a-and-should-be-fired/?utm_term=.6ce7a87fb6b6
The Snowden revelations revealed illegal program after illegal program of the NSA spying on any American or foreigner with an online presence. The additional help of GCHQ (UK), ASD (Australia), CSE (Canada) and GCSB (New Zealand) filled in any gaps globally and show a tendency of governments to focus on scooping up information from their citizens and not terrorists. Indeed, no act of terror has been stopped due to these programs and many have occurred since 9/11.
Ostensibly, these covert programs were supposed to thwart terrorists, but instead they are being used to stop dissidents, leaks and embarrassing stories from hitting the press. Chelsea Manning revealed classified video of US servicemen shooting into a crowd of twenty unarmed civilians in Iraq. Two Reuters reporters were killed in this attack and the footage was classified to cover it up. This incident also brought Wikileaks into prominence as a household word. Manning was tracked down using online chat transcripts that were used at trial.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ho-is-Bradley-Manning-and-what-did-he-do.html
What does this have to do with Windows 10?
Windows 10 does several things to improve the collection of personal information. When you first run Windows 10, you are encouraged to sign up with your (preferably MS) email address. This is not mandatory, but of course they don't tell you that. As the majority will enter an address at this point all future info that is collected will be indexed against that email. This means it is easier to build up a profile of you. Once you begin using Windows 10 what you do, where you go, who you talk to is indexed against your profile. This is not the anonymous data collection they promised.
Windows 10 EULA excerpts (Of course, everyone read this document thoroughly before installing Win 10, right?): "By accepting this agreement or using the software, you agree to all of these terms, and consent to the transmission of certain information during activation and during your use of the software as per the privacy statement described in Section 3. If you do not accept and comply with these terms, you may not use the software or its features."
"Privacy; Consent to Use of Data. Your privacy is important to us. Some of the software features send or receive information when using those features. Many of these features can be switched off in the user interface, or you can choose not to use them. By accepting this agreement and using the software you agree that Microsoft may collect, use, and disclose the information as described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement (aka.ms/privacy), and as may be described in the user interface associated with the software features."
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Windows/10/UseTerms_Retail_Windows_10_English.htm
Microsoft Privacy Statement excerpts: "In order to provide this computing experience, we collect data about you, your device, and the way you use Windows. And because Windows is personal to you, we give you choices about the personal data we collect and how we use it." Note: this is all turned ON by default. Only the Enterprise edition of Windows 10 can turn off all data telemetry at this time and that can change for the worse in the future. As you have agreed to monitoring as part of the EULA, there is no guarantee that a future MS patch will not turn it back on in the future.
Source: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement
Microsoft Services Agreement excerpts: (Covering services such as Bing, Cortana, OneDrive or Skype - "you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content".
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/
As an author, I'm saying no. Just, no.
Other reasons to not use Win 10.
"On the other hand, users on Windows 10 Home will be forced to download automatic updates. It doesn't stop there either. The basic offering of Windows 10 also controls how much bandwidth a user consumes, display ads in the Start Menu, log every key press on the keyboard, download a user's browser history, and much more. These are all described in the End User License Agreement (EULA) each user is required to agree to before making use of the operating system." (Emphasis is mine)
Source: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...you-doesn-t-think-you-should-be-concerned.htm
Win 10 is effectively Beta software. There will be no service packs and you have little control over when your PC is updated, to what extent or the impact on your system.
Win 10 monitors the apps you use, when and for how long.
Source: https://www.extremetech.com/computi...ft-is-closely-watching-you-but-is-it-an-issue
Win 10 uses YOUR Internet bandwidth to update other PC users. It is said to maintain 100 TCP connections for things like Windows updates.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2955...cs-bandwidth-to-update-strangers-systems.html
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12096862
Early Win 10 had a Linux Kernel that ran tasks hidden from the user. It has been subsequently removed, but remnants have been reintroduced.
http://thehackernews.com/2016/02/windows10-linux-subsystem.html
The Bill of Rights (Applies only if you are American)
Source: https://nccs.net/online-resources/u...nstitution/the-bill-of-rights-amendments-1-10
I want to be clear that I know a qualified technician can get around the majority of the above issues. The point is that all this is turned on by default and most people A) don't know how to do this themselves, or B) don't even know this info is being collected in the first place. c) don't care cuz they need to fight t'rrists."
The Snowden files only revealed what he knew. Under the Trump administration, these abuses of power will probably not stop and potentially grow. Even if the American court system can bring the NSA back under control, IF YOU ARE NOT AMERICAN, NOTHING CHANGES. Collection of your info (because you are a foreigner) will continue. Who you talk to, what you buy on-line, your banking info, who you socialize with, health issues, family troubles, name it. Use Microsoft online services and any photos, art work, music or text you post can be used to generate profit by Microsoft and they owe you nothing.
Given the volume of info collected, the US Government will want it. Microsoft is a US corporation and if subjected to another FISA style secret court order, they will have to conform to the court order. Even if reversed at a later date they will still have that info. Enabling a surveillance state is not in the cards for me and as the famous line from WarGames goes, "the only winning move is not to play." So I'll be converting to Linux as my main OS and will use my Win7 install (which is clean of any known surveillance code) for the few things I still need.
I tried to show reliable sources for every point I made. If you disagree, that's your right. If you choose to keep Windows 10 after knowing all this (and there is a lot more) then you've made an informed decision. I didn't go down any tinfoil hat wearing paths, I only said what I could prove.
It comes down to this. If you don't stand up and fight for your rights now, they will erode over time and the next iteration of Windows (And Bing, and Google, and every other Internet accessible program written on the planet) will be far worse. This is the line I will not cross.
Someone said they used Windows 10 because it was so stable. Archaeologists recently postulated the Wooden Horse of Troy had a triangular base for stability. The parallels are obvious.
Last kick at the can. (link contains strong language and may be NSFW) https://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-10-sucks.html
Finally, my favorite quote growing up. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."
As many people try to derail other threads with this topic, I can now just post a link to this thread and let people debate it in its own area. [yesnod]
First, some history. Why? Because people have very short memories and context is everything.
PRISM - "a mechanism that allows the government to collect user data from companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, and others."
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/17/4517480/nsa-spying-prism-surveillance-cheat-sheet
PRISM was one of the first revelations to come from Edward Snowden. It showed that the US government was directly tapping into all major data centers. This was a result of the 9/11 attacks where legislation was pushed through to fight "terrorism." Using blanket (and secret) FISA court orders, the US government directly tapped into the databases of major corporations with data on any US citizens (and others) who had accounts there.
Now, I need to make a distinction. If you are a US citizen, you have protections under the US Constitution for Freedom of Speech and illegal search and seizure, among others. The US Government ignored those constitutional protections completely, but in theory you have them. If you're not an American, you have no rights under US law and your communications, all of them, are subject to interception without limit. This began happening, not after the 9/11 attacks but, in 1952 when the NSA was formed. For seventy years, the NSA has operated under a charter authorizing it to intercept or "collect" any foreign communications. Originally, this was designed to tap into other governments communications like Russia or China. As more people went online and with the establishment of "The Cloud," the NSA began to collect peoples personal data as well. If you sent a telegram, made a phone call, or sent a fax after 1952 outside of the US, or if it crossed a US border, it was probably collected, analyzed and scrutinized.
Back to PRISM. This was clearly an unconstitutional program spying on all Americans with an online presence, but the legislation was rammed through the US Congress and Senate "to fight terrorism." The secret orders that went with the FISA court orders did not allow any one in receipt of these orders to make any public comment and appeals were made in closed sessions of secret FISA courts. The story of Ladar Levison, founder of Lavabit shutting down his company to avoid violating his customers rights, is well known. This surveillance applied to members of the press and Congress as well.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/u...usses-pressure-from-fbi-to-disclose-data.html
James Clapper, head of the NSA, was called to Congress to account for the NSA's actions and lied, under oath, to not admit to unconstitutional actions. Although lying to congress is a felony, James Clapper hasn't spent a day in jail as I write this.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...a-and-should-be-fired/?utm_term=.6ce7a87fb6b6
The Snowden revelations revealed illegal program after illegal program of the NSA spying on any American or foreigner with an online presence. The additional help of GCHQ (UK), ASD (Australia), CSE (Canada) and GCSB (New Zealand) filled in any gaps globally and show a tendency of governments to focus on scooping up information from their citizens and not terrorists. Indeed, no act of terror has been stopped due to these programs and many have occurred since 9/11.
Ostensibly, these covert programs were supposed to thwart terrorists, but instead they are being used to stop dissidents, leaks and embarrassing stories from hitting the press. Chelsea Manning revealed classified video of US servicemen shooting into a crowd of twenty unarmed civilians in Iraq. Two Reuters reporters were killed in this attack and the footage was classified to cover it up. This incident also brought Wikileaks into prominence as a household word. Manning was tracked down using online chat transcripts that were used at trial.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ho-is-Bradley-Manning-and-what-did-he-do.html
What does this have to do with Windows 10?
Windows 10 does several things to improve the collection of personal information. When you first run Windows 10, you are encouraged to sign up with your (preferably MS) email address. This is not mandatory, but of course they don't tell you that. As the majority will enter an address at this point all future info that is collected will be indexed against that email. This means it is easier to build up a profile of you. Once you begin using Windows 10 what you do, where you go, who you talk to is indexed against your profile. This is not the anonymous data collection they promised.
Windows 10 EULA excerpts (Of course, everyone read this document thoroughly before installing Win 10, right?): "By accepting this agreement or using the software, you agree to all of these terms, and consent to the transmission of certain information during activation and during your use of the software as per the privacy statement described in Section 3. If you do not accept and comply with these terms, you may not use the software or its features."
"Privacy; Consent to Use of Data. Your privacy is important to us. Some of the software features send or receive information when using those features. Many of these features can be switched off in the user interface, or you can choose not to use them. By accepting this agreement and using the software you agree that Microsoft may collect, use, and disclose the information as described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement (aka.ms/privacy), and as may be described in the user interface associated with the software features."
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Windows/10/UseTerms_Retail_Windows_10_English.htm
Microsoft Privacy Statement excerpts: "In order to provide this computing experience, we collect data about you, your device, and the way you use Windows. And because Windows is personal to you, we give you choices about the personal data we collect and how we use it." Note: this is all turned ON by default. Only the Enterprise edition of Windows 10 can turn off all data telemetry at this time and that can change for the worse in the future. As you have agreed to monitoring as part of the EULA, there is no guarantee that a future MS patch will not turn it back on in the future.
Source: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement
Microsoft Services Agreement excerpts: (Covering services such as Bing, Cortana, OneDrive or Skype - "you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content".
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/
As an author, I'm saying no. Just, no.
Other reasons to not use Win 10.
"On the other hand, users on Windows 10 Home will be forced to download automatic updates. It doesn't stop there either. The basic offering of Windows 10 also controls how much bandwidth a user consumes, display ads in the Start Menu, log every key press on the keyboard, download a user's browser history, and much more. These are all described in the End User License Agreement (EULA) each user is required to agree to before making use of the operating system." (Emphasis is mine)
Source: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...you-doesn-t-think-you-should-be-concerned.htm
Win 10 is effectively Beta software. There will be no service packs and you have little control over when your PC is updated, to what extent or the impact on your system.
Win 10 monitors the apps you use, when and for how long.
Source: https://www.extremetech.com/computi...ft-is-closely-watching-you-but-is-it-an-issue
Win 10 uses YOUR Internet bandwidth to update other PC users. It is said to maintain 100 TCP connections for things like Windows updates.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2955...cs-bandwidth-to-update-strangers-systems.html
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12096862
Early Win 10 had a Linux Kernel that ran tasks hidden from the user. It has been subsequently removed, but remnants have been reintroduced.
http://thehackernews.com/2016/02/windows10-linux-subsystem.html
The Bill of Rights (Applies only if you are American)
Source: https://nccs.net/online-resources/u...nstitution/the-bill-of-rights-amendments-1-10
I want to be clear that I know a qualified technician can get around the majority of the above issues. The point is that all this is turned on by default and most people A) don't know how to do this themselves, or B) don't even know this info is being collected in the first place. c) don't care cuz they need to fight t'rrists."
The Snowden files only revealed what he knew. Under the Trump administration, these abuses of power will probably not stop and potentially grow. Even if the American court system can bring the NSA back under control, IF YOU ARE NOT AMERICAN, NOTHING CHANGES. Collection of your info (because you are a foreigner) will continue. Who you talk to, what you buy on-line, your banking info, who you socialize with, health issues, family troubles, name it. Use Microsoft online services and any photos, art work, music or text you post can be used to generate profit by Microsoft and they owe you nothing.
Given the volume of info collected, the US Government will want it. Microsoft is a US corporation and if subjected to another FISA style secret court order, they will have to conform to the court order. Even if reversed at a later date they will still have that info. Enabling a surveillance state is not in the cards for me and as the famous line from WarGames goes, "the only winning move is not to play." So I'll be converting to Linux as my main OS and will use my Win7 install (which is clean of any known surveillance code) for the few things I still need.
I tried to show reliable sources for every point I made. If you disagree, that's your right. If you choose to keep Windows 10 after knowing all this (and there is a lot more) then you've made an informed decision. I didn't go down any tinfoil hat wearing paths, I only said what I could prove.
It comes down to this. If you don't stand up and fight for your rights now, they will erode over time and the next iteration of Windows (And Bing, and Google, and every other Internet accessible program written on the planet) will be far worse. This is the line I will not cross.
Someone said they used Windows 10 because it was so stable. Archaeologists recently postulated the Wooden Horse of Troy had a triangular base for stability. The parallels are obvious.
Last kick at the can. (link contains strong language and may be NSFW) https://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-10-sucks.html
Finally, my favorite quote growing up. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."
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