The "keylogging" has a reason: to collect data for corrections. As the linked article says, many phone keyboards have been doing this for years to improve autocorrect. With Windows 10 pushing tablets and the ability to do writing->text, they feel a need to collect writing and typing data to make the corrections on those better.
Not only that, but they feel the need to do it remotely because the data would grow large over time and the extra processing would bog down devices if it were all done locally. Perhaps even more importantly, analyzing the data on centralized servers helps them improve the software they'll ship in the future rather than simply improving the experience on individual machines.
Excellent comment, thank you. My biggest beef with all of this is the simple fact that users are opted-in by default. Not surprised by any of it, as we all live in the world of online accounts with 10,000 word T&S agreements, apps with unending permissions, and a virtual economy driven by tracking cookies. MS's dig for data is obnoxious, but as stated it is not necessarily any more egregious than any other firm's harvesting practices. There will be those of us who eschew it all out of principle and/or paranoia, others who take all of two minutes to turn off the readily available settings that MS left on by default, or those blissfully ignorant or apathetic about the issue who will flood MS and its partners with their data. The business world is one huge carny and it's up to each of us to figure out if we're the marks.
I just installed Windows 10. When it asked if I wanted to adjust my privacy settings or trust the defaults, giant air siren started blaring in my head.
Sure enough, I had to disable most of it. I left the ad targeting on, because only thing worse than targeted advertising is untargeted advertising.
You're opt'ed-in by default because Microsoft is a business and they need to make money. If they made it all optional then hardly anyone would turn those features on.
I feel like I'm crazy for really not caring all that much. It's an incredibly good experience, and I really don't imagine Microsoft would risk their literal main moneymaker by destroying everyone's goodwill.
I don't know. With IBM buying 200,000 Macs, like they anounced recently, it's possible that other companies will follow. Many of the largest companies in the world are old and conservative ventures, they don't like taking chances. Those companies are likelly IBM costumers in some form or the other, with Big Blue going to Apple, their costumers might feel secure enough to change themselves.
I can see Apple growing strong on the enterprise market in the next few years.
Its something you should care about. I care about the privacy issues here the same way I care about the potential dangers of self-driving cars, or even current generation aircraft. Yes, there is a risk involved, but the existence of the technology can vastly improve the life of its users, and we should be doing what we can to contain the risk, not stifle the technological innovations. I, personally, can't wait for the first self-driving cars, even though I know without a shadow of a doubt there will be a major catastrophe within a decade or two of them hitting the streets in numbers. The proper way to proceed is to take these concerns and watch for when they slip up, when the mistakes are made, and at that point deal with them both through personal preferences (stop using Windows) and through legal means.
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