Railworks America

Now we know the real reason Windows 10 is "free":

http://www.networkworld.com/article/295 ... ement.html

First, who reads the EULA, let alone understands it? Anyway, decline and you can't use the software.

According to the latest news, the included spyware can't be turned off in the Home edition. Of course, how many users of any edition ever go into the registry?

It only get worse from here folks.

Remember what Ben Franklin said before you give up your privacy:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Rob

I used to just ignore this stuff as scaremongering by the tin foil hat crowd. But its beginning to tip over the edge for me. This is just part of the big trend - all the major players are doing it. You pay to play by giving up your privacy. There is really no alternative other than pulling the plug. There are too many ways in - browser extensions, game addons, hidden security settings - no one will be able to truly secure their privacy if they are connected to the internet. I am concerned about who is actually behind much of the free software we use. It wouldn't take much for a foreign crime group to buy up some popular free software - a web browser maybe, or an antivirus program - and add their malware. Its probably already happening. Your web browser is the only program you type your bank password into, who would you rather give it to - Microsoft - or some mystery group behind the free browser you downloaded somewhere on the internet?

I think the bottom line is, to participate in the internet and use its services, you must trust someone. Whether its Apple, Google, Microsoft, or the mystery groups behind Linux, you either trust them with your privacy, or pull the plug on the internet. There's no other alternative.

Wayne:

What you say is correct. We have little or no choice if we want to use the Internet.

Therefore, the true issue is how to let people know what's going on. The disclosure our information is being collected should be transparent, not opaque. The ability of anybody to turn off such data collection should be easy, and available in all versions of the software.

Rob

Interesting read there.. Thanks for putting up the link.

imnew wrote:Interesting read there.. Thanks for putting up the link.

You're welcome.

Rob

I have never put banking information out there. All of my Internet transactions are through PayPal or by credit card. At least you have some firewall against the hoard of thieves on the Internet. It certainly is a scary world out there nowadays. Personally I'm happy with win 7 for now. There are articles starting to appear about how to disarm a bunch of this stuff so we shall see where this ends up.

wacampbell wrote:I used to just ignore this stuff as scaremongering by the tin foil hat crowd. But its beginning to tip over the edge for me. This is just part of the big trend - all the major players are doing it. You pay to play by giving up your privacy. There is really no alternative other than pulling the plug. There are too many ways in - browser extensions, game addons, hidden security settings - no one will be able to truly secure their privacy if they are connected to the internet. I am concerned about who is actually behind much of the free software we use. It wouldn't take much for a foreign crime group to buy up some popular free software - a web browser maybe, or an antivirus program - and add their malware. Its probably already happening. Your web browser is the only program you type your bank password into, who would you rather give it to - Microsoft - or some mystery group behind the free browser you downloaded somewhere on the internet?

I think the bottom line is, to participate in the internet and use its services, you must trust someone. Whether its Apple, Google, Microsoft, or the mystery groups behind Linux, you either trust them with your privacy, or pull the plug on the internet. There's no other alternative.

It's funny you should mention this now.
I've been having the exact same thoughts since getting into Linux recently. My grandfather used to always say nothing is really free, and I wonder, who is paying Canonical and the others that produce "free" software and OS' and "why"...
The world public has seen the tip of the iceberg only, when we see these crooked billionaires getting busted and we should know by now they are even capable of ripping off their own friends and family. So what do you think they would do to the rest of us?

BTW I don't use the PC for anything critical. Go to your bank people and stop being lazy.
I used to have a friend of a friend that was a startup programer for Apple years ago, and he told me something shocking. He can still get into the newer versions of Mac OS using old backdoors friends and he created decades ago! Some security. He told me then, never trust anything online.

Yah thats my point. People are appalled at the MS EULA, but MS is just being open about what's happening. I am more worried about all the other software that isn't telling me what its doing.

I think you get spyware on your computer that no virus programs etc can pick up. The reason I say this is that I have installed Windows a couple of time this year and just before each install I was getting quite a few spam emails but, after each install they stopped.

trev123 wrote:I think you get spyware on your computer that no virus programs etc can pick up. The reason I say this is that I have installed Windows a couple of time this year and just before each install I was getting quite a few spam emails but, after each install they stopped.

Look to your cookies more likely. That where most of the junk comes from. Every time I do a mass delete of them unwanted goop goes away for a bit.

trev123 wrote:I think you get spyware on your computer that no virus programs etc can pick up. The reason I say this is that I have installed Windows a couple of time this year and just before each install I was getting quite a few spam emails but, after each install they stopped.

What settings are you using in your browser, and are you using IE or Firefox?

Also, a sure fire way to get spam is being a recipient of any multiple recipient e-mail, where your e-mail address is visible. I tell people to include all the addresses as "bcc."

Rob

Buzz and Trev are both right, but there's not a lot you can do about it. I only go to a handful of websites and yet the spam in the email start very soon again after clearing the cookies or reinstalling the OS.
The single biggest help for me was when someone suggested Firefox and Adblock Plus to me. They were right, almost all malware comes through as scripts in web page ads.
The other big help is to use a web mail account instead of Live Mail, Thunderbird etc, and to block the senders.
That last one takes awhile but works great after a few days.

Yes I use adblock in IE. I also scan with Malwarebytes which after a scan, gives you the option to delete all cookies, which I do.

I run Firefox in Win 7, and use AdBlockPlus along with Ghostery to "cover my tracks". Works pretty well. I also run CCleaner on a weekly basis to clean out any tracking cookies.

But I see in Win 10, running "Edge", that ABP and Ghostery aren't (yet?) available, and I refuse to use IE. (OK, only if I positively have to.) Shame because I like Edge for a browser; very minimal footprint, fast, search from the taskbar.

arizonachris wrote:I run Firefox in Win 7, and use AdBlockPlus along with Ghostery to "cover my tracks". Works pretty well. I also run CCleaner on a weekly basis to clean out any tracking cookies.

But I see in Win 10, running "Edge", that ABP and Ghostery aren't (yet?) available, and I refuse to use IE. (OK, only if I positively have to.) Shame because I like Edge for a browser; very minimal footprint, fast, search from the taskbar.

So the leaky bloatware that was IE is no more? I also run Firefox with maximum protection, NoScript, ABP and privacy settings at max.