The Microsoft Death Star is indeed fully operational even though the outer hull isn't 3/4 complete right now.

Darth Nadella has just ordered the Primary Weapon to be fired in a test shot aimed at innocents -- but not at Win 10 users, but instead at the Win 7 and Win 8.1 users who have now backed away from upgrading to Windows 10.

If you do not voluntarily upgrade, then you will be scanned and punished accordingly.

New data has just come in, Darth Nadella has hired the Borg to be his bounty hunters on this one -- they are sneaking in at night and installing butt antenna and eye socket cameras on to unsuspecting Win 7 and Win 8 users now while they are sleeping.  

You will be assimilated.    

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/30/windows-10-spying-on-windo...

Windows 10 Worst Features are now SECRETLY being installed On Windows 7 And Windows 8.1 machines as of last night's updates.

Laughing at Microsoft’s controversial data mining and privacy invasions within Windows 10? Well Windows 7 and Windows 8 users should laugh no longer as this most hated spying is now headed your way…

Software specialist site gHacks has discovered that Microsoft has pushed four new updates to both Windows 7 and Windows 8 which introduce new data collecting and user behavior tracking features.

The four updates in question and the official Microsoft descriptions are:

KB3068708 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry – This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3022345 (replaced by KB3068708) Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry – This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to in-market devices. By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet been upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3075249 Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 – This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels. (Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

KB3080149 Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry – This package updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices. This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded. The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights. (Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)

Furthermore gHacks notes that ” these four updates ignore existing user preferences stored in Windows 7 and Windows 8 (including any edits made to the Hosts file) and immediately starts exchanging user data with vortex-win.data.microsoft.com and settings-win.data.microsoft.com.

“ These, and maybe others, appear to be hardcoded which means that the Hosts file is bypassed automatically”, gHacks explains.

I have reached out to Microsoft about the new patches and will update when the company’s response if/when it is received.

But until then the bigger question for those uncomfortable with these changes is: How do you stop them?"

are being


Now here is the rub -- the Win 7 and Win 8.1 people have never accepted that dammed 1,200 word EULA and they are getting data mined and scanned anyway ????  

Is this legal ???





                               Shuuush ..... Shuuush .......Shuush       "Luke, you do not realize the POWER of the Dark Side ....  

Either you join me, or the Emperor will destroy you .....   and you sister, perhaps then she will join me instead .....   "

Mebbe a little Star Trek Borg Collective type action is appropriate here too   ........



.......  Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated  .......



So, if you happen to have left auto update turned on has your one of your eyes been replaced with a projector lens ????






    I did not choose to participate ..... but I was assimilated anyway.

I just checked and KB3075249 and KB 3080149 are listed under optional updates (I'm running Wind 7 Pro). It's definitely time to find a Linux distro that plays well with my sound card

CONFIRMED

Microsoft intensifies data collection on Windows 7 and 8 ...
www.ghacks.net › Windows
3 days ago - Microsoft published several updates for Windows 7 and 8 recently that add ... I care deeply about this spying and these privacy invasions, but off the .... I started using it when Microsoft began allowing certain partners of theirs  ...


New Windows 7/8/8.1 updates spy on you just like Windows 10 ...  malwaretips.com › News
Aug 23, 2015 - 20 posts - ‎16 authors
Microsoft is pushing KB3075249 and KB3080149 updates for Windows 7/8/8.1 users which can spy on you Windows 10 has been launched and already installed ... When you begin installing updates you begin having issues.


Not just 10: Microsoft caught spying on Windows 7 and 8 ...
www.digitaljournal.com/...microsoft...spying-on-windows-7.../442519
3 hours ago - Microsoft has been caught installing updates onto Windows 7 and 8 ... Once installed, it immediately begins phoning home to Microsoft  ...

Microsoft Increases Secrecy; Expands Spyware to Windows ...
www.thenewamerican.com/.../21455-microsoft-increases-secrecy-expand...
7 days ago - Microsoft Increases Secrecy; Expands Spyware to Windows 7 and 8 ... The Windows 10 update that turns your PC into a portal for spying on you was just ... As more and more people begin to adopt Windows 10 — whether by  ...


Updates Make Windows 7 and 8 Spy On You Like Windows ...
www.hakspek.com/.../updates-make-windows-7-and-8-spy-on-you-like-...
Aug 23, 2015 - KB3075249 Microsoft Update adds telemetry points to 'consent.exe' in Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. ... Well, now new updates that are being deployed to all Windows 7, .... I wonder if people will begin to move away from spysoft.

The two places most people are flocking to with their infected machines to stop all such issues are:

Linux Mint

Ubuntu Linux

YOU MUST DO A FULL INSTALL WHICH TOTALLY REFORMATS YOUR DRIVE INTO fs4 FORMAT TO TOTALLY STOP MICROSOFT'S CURRENT INCURSIONS.  

YOU CANNOT DUAL BOOT ANY MORE, SINCE THAT LEAVES MS A PLACE TO BE ON YOUR HARD DRIVE AND STILL GIVES MICROSOFT ACCESS TO YOUR ROUTER WHICH MEANS THEY CAN STILL SPY ON YOU AT WILL.

DO NOT BE DELUDED, MICROSOFT MAY STILL COME AFTER YOU ANYWAY .....


....... tin hats, anyone?


========================================


You can scrape it off a Win 7 or Win 8.1 machine if you do it right now by reversing the specific KBs, but it is currently suspected MS is going to make that impossible to get rid of or get it off later on this week when they do some other "blended" updates that install and protect their spyware.

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/28/microsoft-intensifies-data-collection-on-win...

What you can do about it right now, today.

The best way to deal with these updates is to make sure they are not installed. If they have been installed already, you may want to disable them.

You may remove those updates using the Control Panel, or by running the following commands using an elevated command prompt:

wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart
It is recommended to "hide" them afterwards so that they are not picked up and installed again on the computer system. (via)

AND TURN OFF YOUR AUTOMATIC UPDATES !!!!

MS is counting on your personal laziness to carry the day for them -- and they have been right about habit and laziness so far, now haven't they?


======================================


Guile and misdirection -- A Microsoft specialty

Here is the very first ugly KB that starts the scanning cascade, which then leads deeper and deeper into reporting on your various on line activities and downloads.

I just got a notification of 48 updates for XP... ...

Sup' wit dat?... ...

http://www.ibtimes.com/windows-10-could-be-banned-russian-government-workers-...

Windows 10 Could Be Banned For Russian Government Workers After Privacy Concerns Spark Outrage

"The vice speaker of the Russian Duma has proposed that the national legislature consider prohibiting the use of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system among Russian government workers, state-owned corporations and state-sponsored research institutions. The request comes amid heightened concerns over the new operating system throughout the world.

Nikolai Levichev, leader of the A Just Russia party, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and other leaders, asserting that Windows 10's user agreement enables Microsoft to scan for passwords, contacts, location information and other types of sensitive data."

Microsoft's latest software has drawn a number of privacy complaints, though the company replied to Levichev's accusations by saying transfer of personal information is possible only with a user's consent.  

This response cut no ice whatsoever with the Russian Duma members, who really don't care if somebody clicked on an unreadable 1,200 word EULA or not.

Russia does not permit MS to suck up passwords and such from government machines, period.    We are still waiting to hear from Germany and China, who feel likewise.

   Political posturing is certainly a part of this right now, there are no hard actions as yet from the Duma ..... but wait until their Win 7 starts to get Borged and see what they say (or do) about it.

Source is International Business Times, so this one is verified from a major source already.

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 08/31/15 at 07:33:27:


I checked all my windows 7 machines.  Each of these show the updates as "Optional".  As far as I know, windows 7 won't download or install those unless you say it is OK to do so.   My Windows Update is set to not install ANYTHING unless I say it can do so.. and it is behaving correctly as far as I can tell..  The key phrase being "as far as I can tell".