Windows 10 Enterprise ignores user privacy settings

From Windowsreport:

According to Mark Burnett, an independent IT security analyst, the OS lets users enable their preferred privacy settings only to ignore them after the fact [...] Despite having telemetry and the tracking-related services disabled, the system still connects to these services. Adding a few extra reg hacks doesn’t help blocking telemetry services. [...] With every possible setting to block connections to Microsoft disabled (except updates), a bunch of advertising-related connections are still visible. [...] Ultimately, Microsoft doesn’t honor it’s own Group Policy settings. For more details about this strange Windows 10 Enterprise behavior, you can check out Mark Burnett Twitter page. You’ll also find screenshots for all the privacy issues listed above as well.

The actual Windowsreport article isn't much longer than the except I've blogged here (and which I've rather savagely cut down, to avoid simply quoting their entire article), although it mentions some more technical issues like the system still connecting out to perform IPV6 Teredo tests, even with both IPV6 and Teredo diabled; the system still connecting to SmartScreen, even with SmartScreen diabled; and so on. The basic point seems pretty clear, though: Microsoft is still ignoring user privacy settings to harvest data to which those users have explicitly denied them, and they're doing it so that they can advertise to these users... and these are Enterprise users, remember, not just people making personal use the PCs in question.

I'll admit it: I'm a little surprised to learn that even Windows 10's Enterprise edition has these issues. To find this sort of Microsoft bullshittery in the Home edition, or even the Pro edition, wouldn't have surprised me at all, but Enterprise is the really expensive purchase plan, the one that Microsoft is pushing to larger corporations. I'm not a larger corporation, but if I were, this is the kind of thing that would turn me off Windows 10. Almost two years later, and Microsoft are still screwing up on basic privacy. GG, Microsoft! Well done.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Windows 10 adoption rates over the month...

UPDATE:
Mark Burnett ran some more thorough tests on a clean install of Win10 Enterprise, and posted about the results here. His summarized assessment of the situation boils down to these points:

• I made mistakes on my original testing and therefore saw more connections than I should have, including some to Google ads.

• You can cut back even more using the Windows Restricted Traffic Limited Functionality Baseline but break many things.

• Settings can be set wrong if you aren’t paying attention. Also, settings are not consistent and can be confusing to beginners.

• You are opted-in to just about everything by default and have to set hundreds of settings to opt out, even on an Enterprise Windows system. Sometimes multiple settings for the same feature. Most Microsoft documentation discourages opting out and warns of a less optimal experience. It’s almost like they don’t want you to opt-out.

• But you can’t completely opt-out. Windows still tracks too much.

• Home and Professional users are much worse off due to limitations of some settings and lack of an IT staff. I’m not going to bother with captures from those systems, this has already been shared by many others. Spoiler: it’s bad.

• I’m not saying ditch Windows. I’m saying let’s fix this. If we can’t fix it, then we ditch Windows.

Turn off all the advertising in Windows 10

From Mark Wilson at betanews:

Pretty much since the launch of Windows 10 there have been complaints about ads and usage tracking in various forms. You might think that Microsoft would listen to complaints and consider removing ads from its operating system, but in fact more and more have been added.

We've looked at the various ads (or app suggestions, app tips and so on to use Microsoft's phraseology) that have cropped up over the last couple of years, but the release of Windows 10 Creators Update seems like a good time to revisit the topic. So here, once and for all, is how to kill all the ads (or whatever you want to call them) in Windows 10.

For such a short article, the list it gives of places where Microsoft have shoe-horned in some unwanted advertising is actually somewhat impressive:

• Ads in File Explorer;
• Ads in the Start menu;
• Ads on the Lock screen;
• Ads in the Share dialog;
• And elsewhere in Windows 10 (yes, there are more). 

Click through to betanews for all the detailed instructions about where to find all the relevant settings and how to set them to turn all the advertising off.

Wilson ends his article with a plaintive, "Have we missed any?"

Yes, Mark, you probably have. 

The Shilling Continues!Microsoft is now actually pre-loading unwanted apps in Windows 10, not just previewing them.

Not that long ago, Microsoft tried to convince us that blocking installation of Win32 programs was an anti-bloatware feature that they were adding to Windows 10 for users' benefit. That was, quite simply, a lie. Although many Windows users will, over time, end up installing, and then forgetting about, any number of programs, neglecting to uninstall them and thus adversely affecting system performance, that hit to performance doesn't make those programs bloatware. Programs which you choose to install are not bloatware; only software which is installed against the user's wishes can count.

And the simple reality of Windows 10 is that the single biggest source of bloatware isn't Win32 programs of any description. The single biggest source of bloatware in Windows 10 is Microsoft. And, as if to hammer this point home, they're upping the ante on this practice again.

From The Verge:

I’ve sat back and witnessed the development of Windows 10 and appreciated the speed of new feature releases, but it seems there’s a price to pay for this new “Windows as a service” world. Microsoft has gradually been infesting Windows 10 with annoying ads. The first emerged on the lock screen as “tips,” and then there was the bundling of Candy Crush with the OS, and now Microsoft has started blasting notifications into the task bar and File Explorer.

Windows 10 users have been complaining vocally in recent weeks about OneDrive notifications in the File Explorer, encouraging them to pay $6.99 for an Office 365 subscription. The task bar notifications that prompt people to switch to Edge when they use Chrome, or install Microsoft’s Personal Shopping Assistant for Chrome, have been appearing for months. Microsoft even decided to use notifications to warn Chrome users about battery drain. These types of notifications not only spoil the experience of using Windows 10’s built-in features, but they’re an annoying distraction.

Now Microsoft is planning to preload another app in Windows 10: Sling TV. While only US Windows 10 users will get Sling TV preloaded without the necessary subscription, it will sit alongside Candy Crush and Solitaire as other examples of what will soon be described as bloatware. Thankfully, it’s easy to uninstall these unnecessary apps, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft won’t add more to the mix in the future. Microsoft used to blame its OEM partners for bundling lots of useless apps on Windows PCs, but now it has itself to blame for doing the same to Windows 10.

[...]

Microsoft added a notification center to Windows 10 for a reason. If it feels the need to blast its loyal users with irritating prompts then these should be channeled into that notification center, not wedged into the File Explorer or on top of the task bar. You shouldn't have to dig deep into a settings panel to disable these; they shouldn't be there in your File Explorer in the first place. Microsoft already had to walk back its aggressive Windows 10 upgrade prompts last year, so hopefully the company will come to its senses and rethink these annoying ads and bloatware in Windows 10.

Pre-loading apps that a user has expressed no interest in, whatsoever? That's what bloatware looks like, Microsoft. Do you want to know why Windows 7 users are in no hurry to adopt Windows 10? Bullshit like this, is why.

A subtler form of hard sell on Windows 10

If you've been paying attention, at all, then you already know that Windows 10's free upgrade period never ended.

The main GWX campaign may have wrapped up at the end of July, but it's continued to be available for free to anyone who uses "assistive technologies," a term which is so broadly defined that it includes the use of hotkeys -- not programmable keyboards, mind you, but the standard hotkeys which have been part of most Microsoft OS software since MS-DOS. Do you use CTRL+C to copy, and CTRL+V to paste? If so, then Windows 10 is still free for you... if you want it.

And that makes a kind of sense. Microsoft had to end the GWX campaign, because OEM PC vendors were obviously having a harder time selling new PCs when users could simply upgrade the OS on their existing machines. Previously, getting Microsoft's latest OS cost cash up front -- either the price of a new machine, or a couple of hundred dollars for the software by itself -- but the Windows 10 business plan requires rapid, widespread adoption of the platform, and giving it away was (as still is) the fastest way to accomplish that. The Windows 10 giveaway has quietly continued long after the July 29th free-upgrade "deadline" because that adoption hasn't happened yet.

With the Creator's Update imminent release, however, it would seem that Microsoft's stable of friendly tech writers are turning this continuing giveaway of Windows 10 into a subtle pressure tactic, one which will feel familiar to anyone who's ever been on the receiving end of a "hard sell."

A, B, C, goes the hard-sell mantra, "Always Be Closing," and one way that you can pressure people into buying now, rather than waiting for a time when a purchase might make more sense for them, is by convincing them that the deal on offer won't be offered for much longer. "Limited time offer," "Only while quantities last," "Offer ending soon," all these familiar siren calls are meant to increase the buyer's anxiety, pressuring them into buying now, just to make the anxiety stop.

Well, behold the latest version of that -- like this example from 1reddrop.com:

On April 11, 2017, one Windows version will be born while another dies. Windows 10 Creators Update is expected to drop to the general public on April 11; the same day, Microsoft will cease all life support for Windows Vista. If you’re on an older version of Windows 10, that’s how much of a window you have to upgrade to Windows 10.

Fortunately, the free upgrade option for Windows 10 is still available to you

Yup, we’ve been reminding our readers – almost every week, to be honest – that the free Windows 10 upgrade offer is still open, and that Microsoft is well aware of that fact. Though they’ve purportedly kept the porch light on for users of assistive technologies such as screen readers and so on, their secondary intent is to provide an alternative for those who’d rather not pay for Windows 10.

Why Get It Before April 11, 2017?

On April 11, when Windows 10 Creators Update drops to all current devices running Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft could stop the free option forever. From that day, there will no longer be an ethical and moral way to get a Windows 10 upgrade for free – well, not unless you’re a charity organization, anyway.

Yes, get it while it lasts, people! Because Microsoft might choose to end this offer once the Creators Update goes live. Maybe. But probably not. Because this is the thing about the limited-time-offer selling tactic: it's almost always bullshit. Most limited time offers are offered time after time, time and time again, repeated ad naseum until it stops being profitable to offer the deal in question. 

Microsoft will continue to offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade until they achieve wide enough adoption to make their Windows 10 strategy self-sustaining. They have to; their Windows 10 strategy is built on the assumption that they can convince users of older versions of Windows to switch, thus giving Microsoft a captive audience for their built-in advertising, and a large pool of customer for their walled-garden storefront. 

As long as Windows 10 is languishing at 25% market share, this limited time won't expire, because Microsoft can't afford to let is expire. Never forget, though, that Windows 10 is not free. One way or another, you're paying for Windows 10. And if you've refused to switch until now because of its annoying advertising, or its insidious invasions of privacy, then there's nothing magical about this April 11th "deadline." April 11th is no more meaningful than July 29th was, when it comes to Microsoft's Windows 10 giveaway.

If you ever see that Windows 10 has crossed the 50% market share mark, and then start hearing rumblings from Microsoft that they plan to tighten up the "assistive technologies" loophole, then you may want to give some more thought to this purchase decision. But until that day comes, you don't need to worry about it. Free and legal Windows 10 will still be available three months from now, or six months from now, or even a year from now.

Here's why Microsoft's fans should stop defending them

Michael Allison is on a tear over at MSPoweruser. His latest op/ed piece, "Microsoft’s ads in Windows 10 are getting out of control," may not have been as polarizing as Mark Wilson's assertion that Windows 10 was more advertising platform than operating system, but a quick perusal of its comment section will show a fair smattering of the usual fallacious counter-arguments.

Allison, however, has clearly given this issue a lot more thought than those commenters, and today he posted another piece, dismantling every single one of their objections, in detail. It's a fantastic read, and not only because he used "Tu Quoque" in a sentence.

This is one of my favourite parts:

“But Apple and Google do it too”

This is what is known in logic as a “Tu Quoque” fallacy or as all people who deal with small children know the “How come he can do it but I can’t” argument. It’s not really an argument so much as it is pointing or that someone else does the same thing, ergo they should be allowed to do the same thing. In most cases, it is a logical fallacy because it a) is an attempt at deflection from the topic at hand and a red herring, and b) the comparison is never really appropriate.

Take this example where Owen Williams compares the uproar over Windows 10’s advertising and notes that Apple’s Mac OS pops up a notification whenever default browsers are changed. I’m sure some people are complaining about it, but it is disingenuous to compare to this to Windows because Microsoft does exactly the same thing in Windows 10 when you deviate from the Microsoft recommended defaults and that is not what people are complaining about.

And there's this point:

“But Windows 10 is free, how do you expect Microsoft to recoup their investment”

This is a terrible argument on several fronts.

Firstly and briefly, unless you’re a Microsoft shareholder or employee, you have no business worrying about Microsoft’s bottom line. Your contribution to Windows revenue begins and ends at the online or in-store checkout where you presumably paid for it with hard-earned money.

Secondly, Windows 10 is not free. It comes pre-installed with PCs in which case it is purchased by OEMs and then the pricing is bundled in with that of your PC, or it can be purchased by users from Microsoft who sells it at a base price of £109.99. One way or another, you’re paying for Windows.

But this may be the most important section:

Finally and more importantly, there’s is an issue of trust and trust being violated there.

Microsoft promised explicitly that Windows 10 would be free, They made great pains to explain that the Windows 10 upgrade was not free with an asterisk or with hidden terms and conditions but genuinely free. While some online pundits and commenters argued that Microsoft giving out Windows 10 for free meant that Windows 10 was being monetized and that Microsoft would slowly take control from the user, they were dismissed as crackpots and spreaders of FUD.

Playing devil’s advocate for a moment here and assuming that this is what Microsoft is actually doing, this implies that Microsoft deliberately lied to their customers when they marketed Windows 10 as free with no strings attached. Much like with the Windows Phone 8.1 upgrade “promise”, OneDrive kerfuffle a while ago, this erodes trust in Microsoft’s word. It implies that Microsoft can promise something explicitly, and then change it once you’re sufficiently locked-in.

Well said. Very well said.

And, finally,  there's this point:

“But you can turn it off”

You could turn Cortana off before too. Simply speaking, would you turn it on if it was off by default? If no, then who does it benefit.

What can I say? I agree completely. In fact, many of these are essentially the same arguments that I've been making for months, if less eloquently (or more pungently). Seriously, the whole thing is great, and if you've been following this issue at all then you should absolutely go read the entirety of it.

(Yes, I've linked to the article five different times in one blog post. What can I say? I'm hoping someone from Microsoft happens on this, and clicks a link.)

Windows 10 isn't an operating system, it's an advertising platform

The hits keep coming, this time from Mark Wilson at betanews:

Microsoft is disgustingly sneaky: Windows 10 isn't an operating system, it's an advertising platform

Don't believe what Microsoft tells you -- Windows 10 is not an operating system. Oh, sure, it has many features that make it look like an operating system, but in reality it is nothing more than a vehicle for advertisements. Since the launch of Windows 10, there have been numerous complaints about ads in various forms. They appear in the Start menu, in the taskbar, in the Action Center, in Explorer, in the Ink Workspace, on the Lock Screen, in the Share tool, in the Windows Store and even in File Explorer.

Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable, and even goes as far as pretending that these ads serve users more than the company -- "these are suggestions", "this is a promoted app", "we thought you'd like to know that Edge uses less battery than Chrome", "playable ads let you try out apps without installing". But if we're honest, the company is doing nothing more than abusing its position, using Windows 10 to promote its own tools and services, or those with which it has marketing arrangements. Does Microsoft think we're stupid?

When Windows 10 first hit computers without a price tag, questions were asked about what the hidden cost might be. We've talked about the various telemetry, privacy-invading and tracking features that are to be found, and this is certainly part of the price one pays for a free operating system ... sorry, ad platform.

But as more and more ads have gradually crept into Windows 10, the implications of using Windows 10 become ever clearer. Microsoft has boasted about the millions and millions of computers that now have Windows 10 installed. These are not just additions to the user-base, they are consumers ready to be advertised at. It is a captive audience staring at screens all around the world -- perfect for pummelling with ads as there's nowhere to hide!

Microsoft is not only incredibly aggressive with its advertising, it is also disgustingly sneaky. Many of the various forms of advertising that can be found in Windows 10 can be disabled, but don't expect this to be easy, particularly if you're not completely au fait with the world of technology. [...] Seriously... who would think that in order to hide the OneDrive ads, you'd need to flick a toggle labeled Show sync provider notifications?

[...]

It might feel as though we're going over old ground here, and we are. Microsoft just keeps letting us (and you) down, time and time and time again.

It's time for things to change, but will Microsoft listen?

Yes, Microsoft is now even losing betanews. So... Will they listen? Will they change?

My guess is: no. Not until they're forced to, anyway. But it's interesting that even outlets like betanews are now mentioning Microsoft's past history of losing antitrust lawsuits when talking about Windows 10.

I still don't think Microsoft are likely to face any antitrust action while Trump is POTUS, but if there's enough public outcry, who knows? Trump likes to present himself as a populist, watches his poll numbers obsessively, and might like nothing better than to score some cheap consumer-advocate cred by taking a swipe at a target as large and obvious as Microsoft have made of themselves.

Beware of the camel's nose...

Microsoft's Windows 10 advertising bullshit continues to generate bad PR for the Redmond firm... today, from Michael Allison at MSPoweruser:

There was an old Arabian fable of a camel, a man, and tent. In this tale, the camel asks the man for permission to stick its nose into his tent – after all – it’s cold outside in the desert and it would be unreasonable to claim that the nose would cause sufficient discomfort to the man. After this request was acquiesced to, further requests followed. “Oh can I just stick my shoulder in?”, “How about my hump”, “At this stage, you wouldn’t begrudge me my tail?”. Each request was small and unobtrusive, but at the end of it, the camel had control of the tent and the man did not.

That’s how I feel about Microsoft’s loading of Windows 10 with ads. The firm initially loaded its Windows PCs with Candy Crush and the users didn’t mind. [...] Then Microsoft enabled Windows 10 Spotlight on PCs by default and started showing ads on it, and I defended that last year, arguing that “Microsoft’s recommendations were completely harmless and not as irritating as the words “ads” would imply.” [...] Microsoft went on to trigger several OS-wide pop-ups to dissuade users from using Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s FireFox. [...] Now the Windows 10 File Explorer is now telling me about just how wonderful OneDrive is if I just pony up £8.99 a month.

If I’m permitted to mix my metaphors, Houston, the camel is in the tent. [...]  Microsoft’s adware is getting out of hand, and its past time Redmond began paying more attention to the wishes of its users.

I'd say it's about a year and nine months past time for Microsoft to begin paying more attention to the wishes of its users, but let's not split hairs. The important thing is that even people who, by their own admission, previously defended this bullshit, have now stopped defending Microsoft's indefensible bullshit.

Everybody has had enough, including people who used to serve as their apologists:

It is too hard to defend Microsoft on this one, and I’m not going to. It is getting frustrating to set up your Windows PC with Windows 10 Pro and having to unpin Candy Crush and Minecraft straight out of the box, then deal with the other ads as well. A PC OS should stay out of your way, not try to sell you stuff. At this point, one wonders if Microsoft even needs the Windows Store, when the whole OS seems to be a bazaar.

Oh, and for those who are still saying that Microsoft isn't doing anything that Apple hasn't already done, with the iOS/MacOS App Store? Allison's got a little history lesson for those folks, too:

It wasn’t so long ago that Apple was critiqued for pre-loading iPhones and Macs with U2’s Album and had to apologize in return. Now Microsoft preloads Windows PCs with Candy Crush of all things and “stickies” it as well as Twitter to the top of your account so it is always the first thing you see in your Store library. Next, Microsoft suggests apps and games for Windows users in the Start Menu’s App list. Then, the firm begins to prompt Windows users to use (the terrible, terrible) ad-ridden by default Edge rather than Chrome. Then we get ads in the action center telling you what you use, and now ads in File Explorer pushing you towards paying for OneDrive. Taken together, Microsoft now has ads in every major area of the Windows interface with the exception of the desktop itself.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again and again until Microsoft change course: Windows 10 is malware, because it behaves exactly like malware: software used to [...] gather sensitive information, gain access to private computer systems, or display unwanted advertising. The only reason people aren't calling it malware is because it's been published by Microsoft. That's bullshit: if your OS behaves like malware, then your OS is malware, by definition.

Of course, Trump is the U.S. President now, and his Commerce and Justice departments are unlikely to do much of anything at all, so Microsoft are probably safe from further legal entanglements in the U.S., at least at the federal level. I guess that leaves us hoping that France, or the EU, will act.

Microsoft Sells Out On Windows 10 Users

Apparently, I'm not the only person who's fed up with Microsoft's non-stop shilling.

From Knoxville's Daily Sun:

Windows 10 has been ramping up its “promoted apps,” or more commonly known as those pesky adverts, since May last year. Currently, the adverts are seen on the lock screen promoting game apps while some even disguise itself as tutorials/guides.

If you’re one that doesn’t want to change from Chrome, Microsoft hasn’t given up on you yet. Take a look at this screenshot obtained from Extreme Tech.

Windows is acquiring a new technique entirely. This time, there’s no way to disable it without affecting potentially useful updates for your cloud storage. Look at the image below to see how Microsoft is pushing the Office 365 now.

That is basically an advert built-in to file storage. To make things worse, the Reddit user had already paid for Office 365. You could always opt to turn “sync provider notification” off but this would jeopardize notification for your cloud storage.

Well, this just looks like Microsoft is selling out on Windows 10 users.

Not an especially well-written piece (sorry, Staff Reporter, unless you're a content-generating AI bot, in which case you don't have any feelings), but I'd say that "selling out" is pretty apt description of what Microsoft's been doing for the last couple of years.

I mean, I get it: Google has a better business plan for the 21st century, and Microsoft really want a piece of that action, in spite of being really late to the party. So, they're trying to leverage their one asset, the ubiquity of Windows, to force their way into the mobile OS market, and to have their own walled-garden storefront, and to have their own web search service, and to monetize everything they sell with advertising. I can see why they'd want to be Google.... and Apple, too, since they're also trying to force their way into the consumer electronics market, having already failed at that a few times now.

But Google didn't become Google by force. They became Google by building a better mouse-trap, by building a customer base who use their products because they prefer their products, and who haven't continually tried to change the relationship with those customers, practically overnight. Not that Google haven't mis-stepped, but they didn't double and triple down on those errors by forcing the issue still further: Google+ didn't become a thing, so Google stopped trying to be Facebook, and let it go.

Microsoft won't let it go. Nobody is using the Windows Store? No problem: they'll just push tiles for "promoted" apps directly to your desktop, to be "discovered" (and maybe accidentally installed/purchased) by users. Nobody is switching from Chrome to Edge, or from Google to Bing? No problem: they'll just push the ads that they would be serving via Edge/Bing directly to the OS itself, via the File Explorer. And why not? Windows 10 was built for this, specifically, in the same way that Windows 8 was built for this, specifically.

The answer is, "Because users won't stand for it, that's why not." I'm expecting Windows 10 to shed even more market share over this month. Look for their EU regulatory issues to not go away, either.