Windows 10 Tech Preview + Keylogging
Yay! People freak out about nothing... probably while owning tons of Google related products!
One of the amusingly big stories (which shouldn't be a story) is that Microsoft is logging as much as possible about how the tech preview of its next OS is being used. Down to logging keystrokes and the likes. The explanation is actually highly credible. They want to improve autocomplete. They also gather data on which apps are used and how apps are used as well as which features are getting used most regularly. Aside from the autocomplete data, the data really isn't any different from telemetry data collected in the past.
While personal information is also collected... it is unlikely the data is stored or even processed together. Rather, for autocomplete it is more about having a more complete dictionary and predicting the best possible words to suggest in each scenario. Beyond that? Microsoft has little value for what you type. Their primary business isn't ad revenue like Google's, so they even have very little incentive to sell the data.
While it is new from Microsoft it is amusing that people gripe because Android is taking over the personal computing market, Google Search is by a wide margin the most popular search engine and GMail is likely still #1 in email. And Google scans your information and has for years. They don't bundle it with personal information, but they aggregate the data and sell it to ad firms. They also leverage your personal data to help target ads to you.
I have nothing against Google's practices here by the way. It is a trade-off. This is the cost of getting all of the good things Google does for free. I think Google could be more transparent about it... but that is a minor gripe. The more important point here is that Google leverages your data in a more invasive way than Microsoft does, even with the measures being taken in this pre-release software. But that never seems to get the same sort of coverage as this is getting.
As with Google Services, you're free not to use them. This is beta (or really pre-beta since it isn't even near feature complete) software and Microsoft themselves recommends only techies use it and only on non-primary computers. No one listens. But you're not forced to use it, and there is no indication that this logging will be present in the final version. Similarly, if you don't want Google selling your aggregated data don't use Google's services.
My point is, complaining is ridiculous on two levels. The first being that virtually everyone reporting on this will have a GMail account. Also, many will own Android phones and use Google Search as their primary search engine. IE - You're already giving up far more to someone else you're not complaining about. The other ridiculous factor is that this is pre-release software which, honestly, most people shouldn't even be using at this point. Especially since Microsoft has yet to announce pricing and many may be forced later to either pony up for an upgrade or go through the painful process (for the non-techies) of reverting back to an earlier version of the OS.
One of the amusingly big stories (which shouldn't be a story) is that Microsoft is logging as much as possible about how the tech preview of its next OS is being used. Down to logging keystrokes and the likes. The explanation is actually highly credible. They want to improve autocomplete. They also gather data on which apps are used and how apps are used as well as which features are getting used most regularly. Aside from the autocomplete data, the data really isn't any different from telemetry data collected in the past.
While personal information is also collected... it is unlikely the data is stored or even processed together. Rather, for autocomplete it is more about having a more complete dictionary and predicting the best possible words to suggest in each scenario. Beyond that? Microsoft has little value for what you type. Their primary business isn't ad revenue like Google's, so they even have very little incentive to sell the data.
While it is new from Microsoft it is amusing that people gripe because Android is taking over the personal computing market, Google Search is by a wide margin the most popular search engine and GMail is likely still #1 in email. And Google scans your information and has for years. They don't bundle it with personal information, but they aggregate the data and sell it to ad firms. They also leverage your personal data to help target ads to you.
I have nothing against Google's practices here by the way. It is a trade-off. This is the cost of getting all of the good things Google does for free. I think Google could be more transparent about it... but that is a minor gripe. The more important point here is that Google leverages your data in a more invasive way than Microsoft does, even with the measures being taken in this pre-release software. But that never seems to get the same sort of coverage as this is getting.
As with Google Services, you're free not to use them. This is beta (or really pre-beta since it isn't even near feature complete) software and Microsoft themselves recommends only techies use it and only on non-primary computers. No one listens. But you're not forced to use it, and there is no indication that this logging will be present in the final version. Similarly, if you don't want Google selling your aggregated data don't use Google's services.
My point is, complaining is ridiculous on two levels. The first being that virtually everyone reporting on this will have a GMail account. Also, many will own Android phones and use Google Search as their primary search engine. IE - You're already giving up far more to someone else you're not complaining about. The other ridiculous factor is that this is pre-release software which, honestly, most people shouldn't even be using at this point. Especially since Microsoft has yet to announce pricing and many may be forced later to either pony up for an upgrade or go through the painful process (for the non-techies) of reverting back to an earlier version of the OS.
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