Windows 10 Privacy Concerms

Brian Howell

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Aug 4, 2015, 3:11:48 PM8/4/15

to Ipse Dixit

I know some folks out there use Windows, and may be ready to jump on the Windows 10 bandwagon; after all, it's free. I signed up for my free upgrade. And now I'm not so sure it was a good idea.

Cory Doctrow has a post up that reveals that there are hidden costs—to your privacy:

By default, Microsoft gets to see your location, keystrokes and browser history -- and listen to your microphone, and some of that stuff is shared with "trusted [by Microsoft, not by you] partners."
You can turn this all off, of course, by digging through screen after screen of "privacy" dashboards, navigating the welter of tickboxes that serve the same purposes as all those clean, ration-seeming lines on the craps table: to complexify the proposition so you can't figure out if the odds are in your favor.

https://boingboing.net/2015/08/03/windows-10-defaults-to-keylogg.html

More on this subject at http://bgr.com/2015/07/31/windows-10-upgrade-spying-how-to-opt-out/

NO RANTS, PLEASE!

Craig Good

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Aug 4, 2015, 3:15:44 PM8/4/15

to Brian Howell, Ipse Dixit

On Aug 4, 2015, at 12:11 PM, Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com> wrote:

> NO RANTS, PLEASE!
>

I hope this doesn’t count as one:

I have yet to hear a single thing about Windows that makes me regret using a Mac.

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--Craig WWJGD?
clg...@me.com http://www.craig-good.com
Craig Good: Central Marin Home for the Bewildered

jack saunders

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Aug 4, 2015, 6:15:55 PM8/4/15

to Craig Good, Brian Howell, Ipse Dixit

The bad guys will win.....because EASY trumps everything else.

My computer guy has hectored me for years. Never stay logged in. Reboot every day. Use scanning/junk file cleansing software weekly. And, as a result, carry my little paper tablet of passwords like I carry my drivers license.

I do none of it. Over time, performance drags. Eventually he will purge it again, making it necessary to carry that little red book everywhere until I can scatter my vulnerability hither and yon once more. Until then, performance slows -- but I don't need any passwords.

From: Craig Good <clg...@me.com>
To: Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com>
Cc: Ipse Dixit <Ipse-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Ipse Dixit] Windows 10 Privacy Concerms

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Craig Good

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Aug 4, 2015, 6:25:51 PM8/4/15

to jack saunders, Brian Howell, Ipse Dixit

I highly recommend never writing down a single password. This app may look expensive, but I find it worth every penny. It allows me to have a unique, strong password for every site I use. The biggest password vulnerability is re-using the same one on multiple sites.

https://agilebits.com/onepassword

And it’s easy, so you can win.

Plus, I have all my private data and passwords available on every computer and iOS device I own, protected by wicked good encryption.

On Aug 4, 2015, at 15:15 PM, jack saunders <jack...@pacbell.net> wrote:

>
> The bad guys will win.....because EASY trumps everything else.
>
> My computer guy has hectored me for years. Never stay logged in. Reboot every day. Use scanning/junk file cleansing software weekly. And, as a result, carry my little paper tablet of passwords like I carry my drivers license.
>
> I do none of it. Over time, performance drags. Eventually he will purge it again, making it necessary to carry that little red book everywhere until I can scatter my vulnerability hither and yon once more. Until then, performance slows -- but I don't need any passwords.

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--Craig WWSJD?
clg...@me.com http://www.craig-good.com
Craig Good: The leader of the pack

Matt Fish

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Aug 9, 2015, 12:04:57 AM8/9/15

to Craig Good, jack saunders, Brian Howell, Ipse Dixit

For what it's worth, I also use the app Craig mentioned and think it's absolutely worth the cost. There are relatively easy ways to maintain password privacy. It' does add a (slight) layer of complexity, sure, but it's easier than carrying around a little notebook full of extremely sensitive personal information.

Forgive me if this is a thread highjack, but I'm curious how folks are protecting their privacy while browsing. I use Ghostery in Chrome on my Mac. That might be ok when I'm home but what about mobile phones or similar touch screen devices? They seem like little personal data hoovers for big tech. Anyone have suggestions about phone data privacy?

(If this is too far off topic or not appropriate for this list please let me know.)

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Brian Howell

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Aug 9, 2015, 12:15:33 AM8/9/15

to Ipse Dixit

For password protection I use M-Secure; it's very similar to OnePassword. To product myself while browsing, I, too, use Ghostery—I think I turned you on to it, Matt, didn't I? I also use Ghostery's default search engine, DuckDuckGo, which never tracks its users.

On my mobile devices I use Ghostery's apps: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghostery/id472789016?mt=8.

With regards to phone data privacy, well, that's a different matter all together. There are solutions, such as https://www.securemobile.com, but I don't know anything about them. Scott? This seems more like your area of expertise.