Windows 11 Sends Massive Amounts of Data to Ad Companies

I obviously can’t verify this story, but I have no reason to believe it is untrue.

Any thoughts?

Yes. Even allowing for the almost inevitable hyping in the way in whic the findings are presented, it’s just further corroboration for the view that the tech industry has become so addicted to harvesting all the user data it can get that it’s unable to break the habit.

For every executive in a tech company who worries about the ethics and consequences of this kind of behaviour, there are ten more convinced that they can’t compete or survive without it.

Not to mention the income stream from selling it, of course.

An added factor is that MS charges a lot less for its software than it used to and it has to make up the shortfall somehow.

And finally, as the industry stampedes in the direction of “AI”, the demand to hoover up ever more user data just rises exponentially.

I don’t see any practical solution other than regulation, and I don’t think that’ll happen any time soon.

Another reason for me to appreciate Apple’s (albeit imperfect) commitment to pruvacy

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Everyone collects data these days and most companies sell it. Our ISP knows the websites we visit, when we connected and how long we stayed, the device we used, and our real time location. But the really good data is known by the businesses who sell us stuff. Amazon probably knows more about me than my closest friend.

I figure either Amazon, Apple, or Google has the most data on me but at least they don’t sell it. They horde the info and use it to sell us stuff and/or sell ads that target us.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” and a couple hundred years later Scott McNealy, former CEO of Sun Microsystems said “You have zero privacy anyway . . . Get over it!”. I agree with both of them.

I don’t think we should just accept that this is the way it’s going to be. The big companies would love it if we did, of course, but that doesn’t mean we have to. If we all just gave up and accepted the spying, eventually there’d be no demand for privacy and Apple and any others who are fighting the good fight would give up as well and start sucking up everything they could get.

Personally, I’d rather not see lawnmower ads in Finder, printer ads in Calendar. I’d rather Siri not interrupt me at random times to tell me about the big sale at Target. But you know for a fact the ad companies would pay through the nose for it.

I believe in a better future.

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That is an awesome quote! I’m going to ask an AI for the original source, then double-check. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Of course, your AI query will have by now been stored with your exact geo-location, date of birth, first-born son’s name, and favorite food. Come back later and you’ll be asked in an ad whether you want to the AI to send a reminder to your son (Tim) to schedule a birthday dinner at the restaurant (XYZ) that is only (N) miles from you because they should have a special on (lobster), your favorite food.


JJW

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Can’t wait to get my free TV :clown_face:

Unless I “go dark,” I don’t see any way to avoid all tracking. I’m tracked every time I use my debit card. I’m not indifferent to the issue, which is why I use DDG, but there is a limit to what a modern can do if he participates in modern society.

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I did the follow-up with ChatGPT (mostly so I can learn its capabilities and limitations). Really, because it’s fun. :upside_down_face:

ChatGPT
Prompt: What is a original source document for this quote from Benjamin Franklin? “” Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

Response:

The original source document for this quote from Benjamin Franklin is unclear, and there is no definitive evidence that Franklin actually said this. The quote has been attributed to him in various books, articles, and online sources, but there is no known instance of Franklin writing or speaking these exact words. It is possible that the quote is a paraphrase or summary of Franklin’s ideas about secrecy, or it may be a misattribution altogether. However, the sentiment expressed in the quote does align with Franklin’s views on the importance of discretion and confidentiality.

Prompt: Try again

I apologize for my previous response. The quote “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin and can be found in Poor Richard’s Almanack, a yearly publication written by Franklin under the pseudonym “Richard Saunders.” The quote appears in the 1735 edition of the almanac and is part of a longer passage that emphasizes the difficulty of keeping secrets. Here is the full quote:

“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. But if either of them are to reveal the secret, it should be done with judgment, lest men suspect their own safety, and fly off from it, as the best way of securing themselves."

Prompt: Format an APA 7th edition reference for: "Poor Richard’s Almanack, a yearly publication written by Franklin under the pseudonym “Richard Saunders.” The quote appears in the 1735 edition of the almanac”

Response:

Here is an example of an APA 7th edition reference for Poor Richard’s Almanack with the quote mentioned:

Franklin, B. (1735). Poor Richard’s Almanack. [Quote “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead” appears in the 1735 edition of the almanac].

Note that in APA 7th edition, the format for book titles in references should be in italics, and the publication year should be included in parentheses after the author’s name. If the specific page number of the quote is available, it can be added after the quote within the square brackets.

I then did a Google search and found the original source:

Both ChatGPT and Google worked. ChatGPT provided this:

Prompt:
find the document online for “Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1735”

Response:

Here are a few resources where you can access digital versions of Poor Richard’s Almanack:

  1. The University of Pennsylvania Libraries: This website has digitized versions of Poor Richard’s Almanack from 1733 to 1758, including the 1735 edition. You can access it here: https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/franklin/almanack/](https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/franklin/almanack/)
  2. The Internet Archive: This website has a collection of digitized versions of Poor Richard’s Almanack, including several editions from the 1730s. You can access it here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=poor%20richard's%20almanack](Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine)
  3. The Library of Congress: This website has digitized versions of several editions of Poor Richard’s Almanack, including the 1739 edition. You can access it here: https://www.loc.gov/item/07011677/](https://www.loc.gov/item/07011677/)
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IMO this is way it is and has been for years. If you’ve never run a background check on someone you would probably be shocked at the information that is legally available. And most of that has been leaked many times by the U.S. Government and companies like Equifax.

Again, IMO, we will have a better future if we can get laws to control how our data is used. At least that is possible.


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Let us which restaurant you get recommended for your son’s birthday :joy:

Since I don’t have a son, that will be hard! :joy:

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You had me worried when you said you were going to research the quote. Don McLean’s “American Pie” was in heavy rotation the last time I took a history course. :sweat_smile:

The good news is that the quote is legit. I found it in the Almanac. Love that quote. I’ve told my children for years if you don’t want something shared, don’t share it. Everyone has a best friend, who has a best friend, who has a …… and so on.

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Just another step closer to the “parlor walls” in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451 :open_mouth:

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First one is a dead link.

Second does take you to the Internet Archive access to Poor Richard’s Almanack, but not any specific year. EDIT: and the first item is an audiobook (hard to search).

Third takes you to the Library of Congress and … “Spoopendyke sketches; the humorous productions of the late Stanley Huntley.” – apparently published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1899. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

https://www.loc.gov/item/07011677/

EDIT THE SECOND: However, a google search for “poor Richard’s almanac 1735” turns up this Internet Archive link, which does indeed contain the aphorism if you search for “dead”:

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Yes, they are the wrong links, so I searched and found the correct one. As I’ve stated several times, I don’t rely on ChatGPT results. Sometimes they are good, occasionally flat-out wrong. I’m using ChatGPT to learn and test. That said, it sometimes gives me a good starting point. Over time, it will become better and more reliable. For now, this is, for me, a fun learning experiment. I can’t learn the good, the bad, and the ugly unless I use it. :slightly_smiling_face:

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ChatGPT gives BS answers like a high school student who didn’t have time to do the homework. Maybe the teacher won’t check?

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I always check. :joy:

I’m running windows 11 under parallels with little snitch running, I don’t see any traffic going to a lot of the sites they list until I open Edge and certainly nothing to steam or mcaffee.
Not running wireshark, but LS is set up in ask mode so every connection parallels makes needs my permission. So at the moment I’m taking that article with a pinch of salt.

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