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Interesting tad bit - MS Windows Genuine Advantage Phones Home Every day

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Carol Haynes:
It is listed in my firewall apps as WGATRAY.EXE

thunder7:
Well i look at it this way, "If i wanted ET to Phone." Id call.
I do not want it calling or telling M$ nothing.
Without my direct permission.
That is my right!.

That is your Right as well. If you want them snooping on your PC that is your right.

And as my Right, I do not want them snooping.Period

Josh:
Well i look at it this way, "If i wanted ET to Phone." Id call.
I do not want it calling or telling M$ nothing.
Without my direct permission.
That is my right!.

That is your Right as well. If you want them snooping on your PC that is your right.

And as my Right, I do not want them snooping.Period
-thunder7 (June 09, 2006, 11:24 AM)
--- End quote ---

What snooping are they doing exactly? They specifically tell you what information is sent in the EULA. They retain your IP and a hash of your product key. Again, I restate, what is the harm in sending an IP address and product key hash? They cant track you down from it, they wont be able to disable your windows installation based on this information, all they can do is (if you are running ingenuine windows) stop you from using MS Update and the MS Download center for certain things. What many fail to realize is that you give your IP out involuntarily every day when you visit websites that either, link to off-domain images or files, or when you visit a website with 3rd party advertisements. Either way, you didnt say "The server's that this site links to can have my IP address and know I've visited this website". To me, the tracking, via url and file access, is far more of a privacy violation. So again, I fail to see what snooping they are doing when they specifically tell you what they are doing in their license agreement that YOU AGREE TO WHEN YOU INSTALL WGA. If you dont want WGA, then you cant use windows update (but you can still get critical updates via auto-update, which microsoft has stated they wont prevent). WGA (in my eyes), shouldnt be an issue if you are running a legit copy of windows. I've only seen people who are running pirated keys and some business customers actually be legitly upset about this.

Again, just as with other sites, I see people yelling and throwing (not at dc.com, but other sites are far more juvenille about this topic, betanews.com for example) a fit over an IP address and a product key hash being sent and then claiming a privacy violation. I fail to see how this is so, if you agreed to let MS install it at windows update.

thunder7:
I have a legit copy of windows.  8)
My Girlfriend works as a PC Tech, so I have the newest version of Windows XP on my new machine. If you remember though the "Root-kits" every body thought Sony a big and respected Name Brand  (was bending us all over the barrel). If it was not for http://www.sysinternals.com/ No-one would be the wiser either.

You do not know All the back doors Microsoft has into a OS. No one but M$ does.
But again if it was not for hackers and other knowledgeable people we would never know what Swiss Cheese of a OS Windows really is.

So When ET is Phoning home what bits and bytes is it telling Home about you and your data, do you think you are safe.
You are not!.

With a router and firewall maybe.
Do you think though that if you really ponder long enough about an OS do you think there are back doors unknown??.
Paranoid, hell yeah,...

My info is my business.
Is not your info data (and dirty Landry your business-what you do on your PC) your business? :o

Josh:
ok, You keep saying that there are all of these backdoors into windows. Please, name one that you have seen or read about or that has even affected you. Windows has so many exploits because hackers want to exploit what is in the MAJORITY OF USE, so they find exploits in windows, since 90% of the users utilize it. I guarantee you that if linux, or mac osx, were in the majority, you would find the same problem. As it is, linux has new exploits found every day, I get a list of them and the list is larger than any windows vulnerability listing I've seen. .

Also, again, you keep saying windows is telling MS about what data is on your system, do you have proof of this? They admitted that they send a PRODUCT KEY HASH and your IP ADDRESS, which isnt hard to obtain at all, heck you give it to many advertising companies simply by loading webpages. So again, please, provide me proof that microsoft is sending more than they claim, show me a backdoor. I've heard these claims before and you know what, they are all unsubstantiated.

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