Heard about that yesterday from some folks, that it had uploaded all their documents and desktop files and replaced those folder paths with OneDrive paths. Without their knowledge.
Just what the fuck? They were from the US, so that probably isn’t illegal there, but why even build such a “”“feature”“”, if you’d get sued to hell and back for it in any self-respecting country?
On my work laptop with windows 10 I find this feature quite useful. Every time the damn thing decide to not boot again (happened twice in 3 years) I can just waste half a work day formatting and reinstalling the OS and then all my files are where I left them.
There is absolutely a use case for it, but it should be an opt-in system with explicit permission required, rather than the default or an opt-out system that you need to jump through hoops to accomplish.
What the ever living capital F Fuck Redmond? They’re blatantly stealing your files, literally! I realize I’m being hyperbolic but Jesus Henry Christ does it get more dystopian than this?
You have a perfectly fine setup with your personal files stored somewhere, happily trucking along and then Microsoft decides to upload YOUR SHIT to THEIR SHIT without even fucking asking? And I’ll bet my left nut that they’ll go ‘oops, your OneDrive is full, better hand over your credit card!’ once it’s done!
It does actually ask you if you want to sync those files if you’re installing it on W10. It’s a bit opaque in explaining the consequences in the simple wizard that allows you to enable or disable it by slider, but that’s why it’s a wizard.
People who say it doesn’t probably just clicked next, next, next… Had a user complain about it too. Than a month later when we replaced his laptop with a W11 he was quite happy with it.
It definitely has a very positive use case for the large majority of users.
The thing to me is that under EU legislation, you need consent from a user to process their personal data.
If the user did not even know about it, then by definition, you did not get consent.
I (and judges) know that this is easier said than done. Even if you’re purely working in the interest of the user, you might not always succeed.
But it still means that the onus is on Microsoft here. They need to credibly ensure that they actually tried to get consent, for example this should be opt-in in the wizard, not opt-out.
I love it for work too, I just wish it didn’t create a shitload of “copy of” files if you sync the folders required by GPO (I have no control over the GPOs).
but why even build such a “”“feature”“”, if you’d get sued to hell and back for it in any self-respecting country?
Just don’t activate it in self-respecting countries. And in America, wow, look at all this free data that is being stored on our servers! Surely we can parse that for something interesting and sell it or train an AI on it. Once users get used to it we can even charge them for the privelege.
When you find any business decision that makes no sense and you ask “why the fuck would they do that??” just follow the money trail and you’ll find your answer. It’s always about money. Every time.
Heard about that yesterday from some folks, that it had uploaded all their documents and desktop files and replaced those folder paths with OneDrive paths. Without their knowledge.
Just what the fuck? They were from the US, so that probably isn’t illegal there, but why even build such a “”“feature”“”, if you’d get sued to hell and back for it in any self-respecting country?
On my work laptop with windows 10 I find this feature quite useful. Every time the damn thing decide to not boot again (happened twice in 3 years) I can just waste half a work day formatting and reinstalling the OS and then all my files are where I left them.
There is absolutely a use case for it, but it should be an opt-in system with explicit permission required, rather than the default or an opt-out system that you need to jump through hoops to accomplish.
Obviously. OBVIOUSLY.
What the ever living capital F Fuck Redmond? They’re blatantly stealing your files, literally! I realize I’m being hyperbolic but Jesus Henry Christ does it get more dystopian than this?
You have a perfectly fine setup with your personal files stored somewhere, happily trucking along and then Microsoft decides to upload YOUR SHIT to THEIR SHIT without even fucking asking? And I’ll bet my left nut that they’ll go ‘oops, your OneDrive is full, better hand over your credit card!’ once it’s done!
Totally agree
It does actually ask you if you want to sync those files if you’re installing it on W10. It’s a bit opaque in explaining the consequences in the simple wizard that allows you to enable or disable it by slider, but that’s why it’s a wizard.
People who say it doesn’t probably just clicked next, next, next… Had a user complain about it too. Than a month later when we replaced his laptop with a W11 he was quite happy with it.
It definitely has a very positive use case for the large majority of users.
The thing to me is that under EU legislation, you need consent from a user to process their personal data.
If the user did not even know about it, then by definition, you did not get consent.
I (and judges) know that this is easier said than done. Even if you’re purely working in the interest of the user, you might not always succeed.
But it still means that the onus is on Microsoft here. They need to credibly ensure that they actually tried to get consent, for example this should be opt-in in the wizard, not opt-out.
I love it for work too, I just wish it didn’t create a shitload of “copy of” files if you sync the folders required by GPO (I have no control over the GPOs).
Just don’t activate it in self-respecting countries. And in America, wow, look at all this free data that is being stored on our servers! Surely we can parse that for something interesting and sell it or train an AI on it. Once users get used to it we can even charge them for the privelege.
When you find any business decision that makes no sense and you ask “why the fuck would they do that??” just follow the money trail and you’ll find your answer. It’s always about money. Every time.