Original title: Microsoft is installing SPYWARE thru Windows Updates? Windows updates installed something called "Diagnostics Tracking Service" in my Windows 8.1 Pro. Take a look at THIS website. http://thepcwhisperer.blogspot.in/2014/10/microsofts-windows-10-preview-has-built.html It says what this service does in Windows 10 TP. Data We Collect When you acquire, install and use the Program, Microsoft collects information about you, your devices, applications and networks, and your use of those devices, applications and networks. Examples of data we collect include your name, email address, preferences and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data ; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage. For example, when you: install the Program, we may collect information about your device and applications and use it for purposes such as determining or improving compatibility, use voice input features like speech-to-text, we may collect voice information and use it for purposes such as improving speech processing, open a file, we may collect information about the file, the application used to open the file, and how long it takes and use it for purposes such as improving performance, or enter text, we may collect typed characters and use them for purposes such as improving auto complete and spell check features. While this might make some sense in a TP (although I consider collecting so much personal information as email addresses and keystrokes to be extreme), it makes no sense in a released Windows version. It's not like I have downloaded it myself from their website as a loving gesture and I want to share whatever I do in my personal life with Microsoft. They slipped it in as an "update" to Windows 8.1 This is definitely spyware behavior in some sense. It's collecting too much personal data. I don't want to share ANYTHING with Microsoft. I have NOT turned on the customer improvement program thing in Windows. WHY IS MICROSOFT DOING THIS? WHICH KB DO I NEED TO UNINSTALL AND BLOCK IN ORDER TO GET RID OF THIS? WHY IS MY ANTIVIRUS NOT REMOVING THIS? HAS MS PAID THE ANTIVIRUS VENDORS? SHOULD I DISABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES? I'M LOSING TRUST ON MICROSOFT. THEY CAN INSTALL SPYWARE ANY MOMENT, I CANNOT INDIVIDUALLY CHECK THE KB ARTICLE ON EVERY UPDATE JUST TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'LL SEND PERSONAL INFORMATION BACK TO MS. I'm really upset about this. :(

I totally agree it is a very sad day. What happened to respect and personal privacy? Time to try and find a new operating system with some integrity and morals. Any Ideas?

windowsforme ,Thanks from me, too, for posting this. I've uninstalled the "update." I, too, installed the optional update w/o really looking into it in depth, assuming an optional fix was probably a fix worth having. But, you're right this is not a fix or a patch and shouldn't be advertised, so to write, as one. I only noticed it, like you wrote, by going through all the processes in my task manager -- just looking for stuff that doesn't need to run in the bg and slow my machine down. I saw this "update" running, didn't recognize it, and looked up what it does. Shilohbob , thanks for posting the update number as well. It's the easiest way to find and uninstall it.

Depending on which Window version you have..... right clip on start - click on run - type in MSCONFIG - click on tab that says Service & uncheck the box for the Diagnostics Tracking Service. I then believe that will STOP it from running. There is also one there I seen called Distributed Link Tracking Client - Not sure what that is. I unchecked any way. Hope this helps.

In the future I will definitively use this option, because in the past, on to many occasions, having used the "Report abuse" option did not help me at all. The Member(s) abusing posting(S) were never deleted. Myself, having been banned from the Community a few times is a fact, and "some", (not all) Moderators , and Forum Owners are keeping an eye on all my postings. I do a lot of browsing and editing my postings. But yet I still find uncalled abuse from some Members addressed to other Members, containing abusive remarks. Their postings have never been deleted. That is not fair. Anyhow, I hope ,me answering to your reply posting addressed to me will not be considered as "off Topic". I think it's a necessary reply to your reply posting. Regards.

It doesn't matter if you remove the tracking service: Microsoft has other means of keeping track of what you do, type and say: http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/ But if you think about it, there's just no way a company like Microsoft is going to give away an operating system for nothing. After all, at $50 per license we're talking about serious money here if you consider that in the first three days alone after W10 was released, 67 million users downloaded it. The catch is in the lucrative deals Microsoft has made with the advertising industry and users can expect to see ads appearing on their systems linked to whatever they're doing with their systems at a given moment. There's already evidence of that as can be seen from this Twitter post: https://twitter.com/GazTheJourno/status/626736454610366465 Similarly, how you use the computer, what you search for, how you interact with Cortana is recorded and relayed to Microsoft to be analyzed and passed on to the advertising industry which will pay handsomely for it I'm sure. But even the advertising industry will want to see data pertaining to the size of the market they're being asked to consider investing in. So what better way to grab your audience than to give Windows 10 away for free? Once installed and once the rollback period of 28 days has passed by, you have a captive audience. But Microsoft is no different than Google in many respects. You cannot use an Android phone - other than just to make phone calls - unless you're prepared to sync all your private data to Google's servers. Same goes for social networking sites like Facebook. How many billions do they make annually from advertising eh? Why should we expect Microsoft to be any different? Welcome to the future.

What is Diagnostics Tracking Service which was installed from Windows Updates?

Anonymous

Original title: Microsoft is installing SPYWARE thru Windows Updates?

Windows updates installed something called "Diagnostics Tracking Service" in my Windows 8.1 Pro.

Take a look at THIS website.

http://thepcwhisperer.blogspot.in/2014/10/microsofts-windows-10-preview-has-built.html

It says what this service does in Windows 10 TP.

Data We Collect

When you acquire, install and use the Program, Microsoft collects information about you, your devices, applications and networks, and your use of those devices, applications and networks. Examples of data we collect include your name, email address, preferences and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage. For example, when you:

install the Program, we may collect information about your device and applications and use it for purposes such as determining or improving compatibility,
use voice input features like speech-to-text, we may collect voice information and use it for purposes such as improving speech processing,
open a file, we may collect information about the file, the application used to open the file, and how long it takes and use it for purposes such as improving performance, or
enter text, we may collect typed characters and use them for purposes such as improving auto complete and spell check features.

While this might make some sense in a TP (although I consider collecting so much personal information as email addresses and keystrokes to be extreme), it makes no sense in a released Windows version.

It's not like I have downloaded it myself from their website as a loving gesture and I want to share whatever I do in my personal life with Microsoft. They slipped it in as an "update" to Windows 8.1

This is definitely spyware behavior in some sense. It's collecting too much personal data.

I don't want to share ANYTHING with Microsoft. I have NOT turned on the customer improvement program thing in Windows.

WHY IS MICROSOFT DOING THIS?

WHICH KB DO I NEED TO UNINSTALL AND BLOCK IN ORDER TO GET RID OF THIS?

WHY IS MY ANTIVIRUS NOT REMOVING THIS? HAS MS PAID THE ANTIVIRUS VENDORS?

SHOULD I DISABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES? I'M LOSING TRUST ON MICROSOFT. THEY CAN INSTALL SPYWARE ANY MOMENT, I CANNOT INDIVIDUALLY CHECK THE KB ARTICLE ON EVERY UPDATE JUST TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'LL SEND PERSONAL INFORMATION BACK TO MS.

I'm really upset about this. :(

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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51 answers

Anonymous

2015-11-22T02:40:35+00:00

I totally agree it is a very sad day. What happened to respect and personal privacy?

Time to try and find a new operating system with some integrity and morals. Any Ideas?
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Anonymous

2015-11-06T03:24:22+00:00

windowsforme,Thanks from me, too, for posting this. I've uninstalled the "update." I, too, installed the optional update w/o really looking into it in depth, assuming an optional fix was probably a fix worth having. But, you're right this is not a fix or a patch and shouldn't be advertised, so to write, as one.

I only noticed it, like you wrote, by going through all the processes in my task manager -- just looking for stuff that doesn't need to run in the bg and slow my machine down. I saw this "update" running, didn't recognize it, and looked up what it does.

Shilohbob, thanks for posting the update number as well. It's the easiest way to find and uninstall it.
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Anonymous

2015-08-30T00:30:18+00:00

Depending on which Window version you have..... right clip on start - click on run - type in MSCONFIG - click on tab that says Service & uncheck the box for the Diagnostics Tracking Service. I then believe that will STOP it from running. There is also one there I seen called Distributed Link Tracking Client - Not sure what that is. I unchecked any way. Hope this helps.
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1 person found this answer helpful.

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Anonymous

2015-08-15T14:33:52+00:00

In the future I will definitively use this option, because in the past, on to many occasions, having used the "Report abuse" option did not help me at all.

The Member(s) abusing posting(S) were never deleted.

Myself, having been banned from the Community a few times is a fact, and "some", (not all) Moderators , and Forum Owners are keeping an eye on all my postings.

I do a lot of browsing and editing my postings.

But yet I still find uncalled abuse from some Members addressed to other Members, containing abusive remarks. Their postings have never been deleted. That is not fair.

Anyhow, I hope ,me answering to your reply posting addressed to me will not be considered as "off Topic". I think it's a necessary reply to your reply posting.

Regards.
Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.

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Anonymous

2015-08-15T13:50:25+00:00

It doesn't matter if you remove the tracking service: Microsoft has other means of keeping track of what you do, type and say: http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-to-microsoft/

But if you think about it, there's just no way a company like Microsoft is going to give away an operating system for nothing. After all, at $50 per license we're talking about serious money here if you consider that in the first three days alone after W10 was released, 67 million users downloaded it.

The catch is in the lucrative deals Microsoft has made with the advertising industry and users can expect to see ads appearing on their systems linked to whatever they're doing with their systems at a given moment. There's already evidence of that as can be seen from this Twitter post: https://twitter.com/GazTheJourno/status/626736454610366465

Similarly, how you use the computer, what you search for, how you interact with Cortana is recorded and relayed to Microsoft to be analyzed and passed on to the advertising industry which will pay handsomely for it I'm sure.

But even the advertising industry will want to see data pertaining to the size of the market they're being asked to consider investing in. So what better way to grab your audience than to give Windows 10 away for free?

Once installed and once the rollback period of 28 days has passed by, you have a captive audience.

But Microsoft is no different than Google in many respects. You cannot use an Android phone - other than just to make phone calls - unless you're prepared to sync all your private data to Google's servers.

Same goes for social networking sites like Facebook. How many billions do they make annually from advertising eh? Why should we expect Microsoft to be any different?

Welcome to the future.
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1 person found this answer helpful.

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