Mom, 10, and TOU

My mother always warned me not to accept gifts from strangers.  She was especially concerned about those men driving by on my way to school who might lure me into their car with an offer of candy. 

So, when I got the persistent pop-up reminders from Microsoft to download the free version of Windows 10, I was skeptical.  Geez, I paid $100 for Version 8 a few years ago (and that dog certainly should have been given away for free!).  But, 10 gets good marks on its improvements in the operating system. 

I finally “scheduled” my 10 download appointment (like going to the doctor!) and the first thing that pops up is the Accept button that must be clicked, otherwise the download will not start.   I was so excited from all the marketing about 10 that I just wanted to get it...it’s free…it’s new!  But, then I started reading the TOU (Terms of Use) and I got the shivers. 

I usually click through these things thinking they are innocuous.  Spoiler alert:  Times have changed in the wild-wild-west digital world and you have to read them and take the decision seriously.  By the way, these things are legally binding.  Now, the install site only provides a few lines of the agreement at a time so it is oh-so-surprisingly hard-to-navigate and the words need a legal Google Translator to understand.  I scoured the site and found the “legal” button for access to the full agreement.  It is 45 pages long.

The TOU contains the usual disclaimers that “in no event” is the corporation liable for “any damages whatsoever” resulting from the “use or performance of the software”.  And if you do find reason to raise a legal concern that would question this disclaimer, you must use “binding arbitration” and “not sue in court”.   The scary stuff is in the Privacy Statement and the information they can collect from you from your searches, geographical location (GPS), data from messages, calendars, contacts, Cortana, and much more. 

The purpose of collecting all these data is for advertising revenues…to target you with customized ads to make you buy more.  As I suggested in my last blog, Google, Facebook, and now Microsoft are not search, social exchange, or operating system companies.  They are advertising companies.  As the old saying goes, “follow the money”. 

But in the wild, wild digital west, where there is very little privacy oversight, things can go wrong with your data, and they do.  My data “in the cloud” with organizations I do business with has been hacked three times.  But, the data on my computing devices is hacked every day. 

Getting back to Mom.  Would you want her to know that you were at a liquor store on 4^th Street at 11 PM, and then went to the HappyTimes Hotel at midnight, and then stopped along the highway at 1 AM for 20 minutes?  Then why would you want Microsoft and their affiliates to know it?  What other purposes will the data be put to?  It is very possible that an unsavory big data monger and algorithm expert could tap this stored personal data and develop a character profile that could influence whether you get a job, a mortgage, or a divorce.

Take your Windows 10 privacy into your own hands.  When installing 10, you can turn a lot of this tracking off.   Do not use the Express Install button which installs it all.  Rather, customize your setting and opt out of most of the stuff offered.  And if you have already installed it, use this easy guide to change the settings.  Or better yet, leave the trackers behind and consider a better operating system, Ubuntu, based on Linux. 

This unfettered appetite of advertisers and their partners, like Microsoft, to spy on you and use your data for their profit must and can be stopped.