https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.en...."Spyware in Windows
(#SpywareInWindows)
A downgrade to Windows 10 deleted surveillance-detection applications. Then another downgrade inserted a general spying program. Users noticed this and complained, so Microsoft renamed it to give users the impression it was gone.
To use proprietary software is to invite such treatment.
Windows 10 ships with default settings that show no regard for the privacy of its users, giving Microsoft the “right” to snoop on the users' files, text input, voice input, location info, contacts, calendar records and web browsing history, as well as automatically connecting the machines to open hotspots and showing targeted ads.
Windows 10 sends identifiable information to Microsoft, even if a user turns off its Bing search and Cortana features, and activates the privacy-protection settings.
Microsoft uses Windows 10's “privacy policy” to overtly impose a “right” to look at users' files at any time. Windows 10 full disk encryption gives Microsoft a key.
Thus, Windows is overt malware in regard to surveillance, as in other issues.
We can suppose Microsoft look at users' files for the US government on demand, though the “privacy policy” does not explicit say so. Will it look at users' files for the Chinese government on demand?
The unique “advertising ID” for each user enables other companies to track the browsing of each specific user.
It's as if Microsoft has deliberately chosen to make Windows 10 maximally evil on every dimension; to make a grab for total power over anyone that doesn't drop Windows now.
It only gets worse with time. Windows 10 requires users to give permission for total snooping, including their files, their commands, their text input, and their voice input.
Windows 8.1 snoops on local searches..
And there's a secret NSA key in Windows, whose functions we don't know.
Microsoft's snooping on users did not start with Windows 10. There's a lot more Microsoft malware."
