This is just a fucking privacy nightmare. We like to laugh and play here about Linux quite a bit, but holy shit this is the actual “If you’re using Windows and expect privacy at all, this is it, you should throw that notion out the window.”
I don’t care how much encryption there is, or the assurance that it’s only on your hard drive, I’ve sat in too many corporate meetings in my career to trust that. There is no way Microsoft is just letting you have that data and they’re not reporting it out. Very least? They’re using ML on it to aggregate what it sees in the screenshot, and then saving that. Worst case, they’re saving it to an encrypted blob storage, calling that encrypted, and hiding deep in the ToS that you actually agreed to that (even though it said in the big letters it was local only, sorry woopsie in the small letters it said it’s also stored there.)
Fuck, ignoring the obvious pron implications that I assume everyone here is immediately thinking of, think of HIPAA, think of the private communications with therapists that people have, think of all of the financial documents you’ve opened, think about bank accounts, chats, fucking everything.
Worst case, they’re saving it to an encrypted blob storage, calling that encrypted, and hiding deep in the ToS that you actually agreed to that
And then it’s discovered that bucket was accidentally set to public for over 8 months. Oopsie daisy! But you can’t sue us because also deep in the ToS was a forced arbitration clause.
Also, if you don’t agree to the whole ToS, you can’t use the computer you just paid for.
But they specifically said in their blog post that it has “privacy you can trust.” Just imagine all the trust you have in Microsoft plus all the trust you have in the accuracy of AI and rest easy. Plus the AI runs locally so they can trust you to pay the power bill.
Don’t think about how much money they could make with their business customers, based on telemetry alone.
Yeah at this point you must assume that they are mining that data one way or another. Paying for windows license has no meaning practically speaking. And yet we pay and they mine…
We like to laugh and play here about Linux quite a bit
We do? Aside from the “I use Arch, btw” memes, I must not have got that memo :) And, uhh…I use Arch, btw.
Fuck, ignoring the obvious pron implications that I assume everyone here is immediately thinking of, think of HIPAA, think of the private communications with therapists that people have, think of all of the financial documents you’ve opened, think about bank accounts, chats, fucking everything.
So much this. I’m glad I dumped Windows and this just guarantees that I’ll never return.
if you’re using windows and expect any privacy at all […] throw that notion out the window
Correct. And the same is true even if you are using linux, macOS, android, or a butterfly to manipulate bits to send a message through the internet.
Because if your message ends up on the screen of a windows user, it’s also going to be eaten by AI.
And forget the notion of “anything you post on the internet is forever”, this is also true for private and encrypted comms now. At least as long as they can be decrypted by your recipient, if they use windows.
You want privacy and use linux? Well, that’s no longer enough. You now also need to make sure that none of your communications include a (current or future) windows user as they get spyware by default in their system.
Europe sets benchmark for rest of the world with landmark AI laws
"“With the AI Act, Europe emphasizes the importance of trust, transparency and accountability when dealing with new technologies while at the same time ensuring this fast-changing technology can flourish and boost European innovation,” he said.
The AI Act imposes strict transparency obligations on high-risk AI systems while such requirements for general-purpose AI models will be lighter.
It restricts governments’ use of real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces to cases of certain crimes, prevention of terrorist attacks and searches for people suspected of the most serious crimes."
This is just a fucking privacy nightmare. We like to laugh and play here about Linux quite a bit, but holy shit this is the actual “If you’re using Windows and expect privacy at all, this is it, you should throw that notion out the window.”
I don’t care how much encryption there is, or the assurance that it’s only on your hard drive, I’ve sat in too many corporate meetings in my career to trust that. There is no way Microsoft is just letting you have that data and they’re not reporting it out. Very least? They’re using ML on it to aggregate what it sees in the screenshot, and then saving that. Worst case, they’re saving it to an encrypted blob storage, calling that encrypted, and hiding deep in the ToS that you actually agreed to that (even though it said in the big letters it was local only, sorry woopsie in the small letters it said it’s also stored there.)
Fuck, ignoring the obvious pron implications that I assume everyone here is immediately thinking of, think of HIPAA, think of the private communications with therapists that people have, think of all of the financial documents you’ve opened, think about bank accounts, chats, fucking everything.
And then it’s discovered that bucket was accidentally set to public for over 8 months. Oopsie daisy! But you can’t sue us because also deep in the ToS was a forced arbitration clause.
Also, if you don’t agree to the whole ToS, you can’t use the computer you just paid for.
don’t forget shared with our “Trusted 3rd party partners”
Looks at the list of partners 762 partners total 🤯
But they specifically said in their blog post that it has “privacy you can trust.” Just imagine all the trust you have in Microsoft plus all the trust you have in the accuracy of AI and rest easy. Plus the AI runs locally so they can trust you to pay the power bill.
Don’t think about how much money they could make with their business customers, based on telemetry alone.
Yeah at this point you must assume that they are mining that data one way or another. Paying for windows license has no meaning practically speaking. And yet we pay and they mine…
I am so glad I switched to Linux 7 years ago. What an absolute shitshow Windows OS has become
Yeah having made the switch a while back and really happy about it. Mega corps are deff tightening the screws and this is just the start.
At this rate any self respecting adult will need to learn Linux lol
Every other month microshit creates a batch of Linux enjoyers.
We do? Aside from the “I use Arch, btw” memes, I must not have got that memo :) And, uhh…I use Arch, btw.
So much this. I’m glad I dumped Windows and this just guarantees that I’ll never return.
Correct. And the same is true even if you are using linux, macOS, android, or a butterfly to manipulate bits to send a message through the internet.
Because if your message ends up on the screen of a windows user, it’s also going to be eaten by AI.
And forget the notion of “anything you post on the internet is forever”, this is also true for private and encrypted comms now. At least as long as they can be decrypted by your recipient, if they use windows.
You want privacy and use linux? Well, that’s no longer enough. You now also need to make sure that none of your communications include a (current or future) windows user as they get spyware by default in their system.
Well maybe not quite by default, yet
Meanwhile in the EU
Europe sets benchmark for rest of the world with landmark AI laws
"“With the AI Act, Europe emphasizes the importance of trust, transparency and accountability when dealing with new technologies while at the same time ensuring this fast-changing technology can flourish and boost European innovation,” he said.
The AI Act imposes strict transparency obligations on high-risk AI systems while such requirements for general-purpose AI models will be lighter.
It restricts governments’ use of real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces to cases of certain crimes, prevention of terrorist attacks and searches for people suspected of the most serious crimes."
<snip>
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-countries-back-landmark-artificial-intelligence-rules-2024-05-21/