Edge has a built-in image enhancement tool that, according to Microsoft, can use “super-resolution to improve clarity, sharpness, lighting, and contrast in images on the web.” Although the feature sounds exciting, recent Microsoft Edge Canary updates have provided more information on how image enhancement works.
The browser now warns that it sends image links to Microsoft instead of performing on-device enhancements.
The biggest problem with Edge’s “super-resolution” and other questionable services is that it is enabled by default. Therefore, unaware users automatically give the browser permission to send pictures to Microsoft for processing and enhancement.
Don’t use Edge.
Such a feature should be implimented locally, but unfortunately some companies intentionally design features to phone home for their own selfish reasons like tracking what users are doing. I hope that major media outlets cover this to pressure microsoft to at least warn users and have users opt in. Otherwise this will become another permanent tracking feature that normal users won’t be aware of or know how to disable. This sort of spyware used to be universally shunned by legitimate tech companies, but now our top tech companies are embracing it since they are ones doing the spying š
It could be implemented locally but that wouldn’t give them shiny telemetry data they can sell to advertisers ! (etc)
I don’t understand where Win10 initial hate and 3% adoption rate went? people were on mass reinstalling 7 after 10 sneakily force installed on millions of computers, how did everyone become drones give up and just accept 10 ? I personally went to the unofficial windows 9 (youtube #ltt) and when they shut support down this year, I went linux full time
while I don’t agree with what microsoft are doing, people always have choice and I blame people for letting them get away with it, least I didn’t sign off on it.,
also no major news outlets are going to be cover this, just like they don’t give a turd about all the telemetry windows currently collects.
I don’t think the hate disappeared, it just turned into apathy by necessity. Microsoft effectively killed Windows 7 off by stopping security updates, making it dangerous to use nowadays, followed by 8.1 this year. The only alternative if you need a Microsoft OS for work or play is to use 10 or later, or else hang on to 7 and air-gap that system. The same thing will happen to 10 in just over two years from now. Microsoft has figured out that they can make far more money selling your information than they ever did selling OS licenses. We will never see another Windows XP or 7 from them, and eventually they will stop selling retail licenses in lieu of subscriptions to 365. If you don’t pay, your OS won’t let you log in and access your own files and apps.
You could try going with Windows 10 LTSC if you know where to look, and if you want to be 100% legitimate with it you can pay for an Enterprise or Developer license to use it. It’s basically Windows 10 Server lightly modified to work as a workstation OS. It will get security updates for a long time after the consumer editions lose theirs, and does away with most of the annoyances that retail/OEM Windows 10 has.
I’m an OS junkie and casual gamer so I never fully dropped Windows, but my main workstations run Void Linux and OpenBSD. I really only go on my Windows machine when it’s time to play games that don’t run on Void. I still have to support Windows at work, but I use other OSes when it’s practical (our backup server is a Debian based machine, for example). These days it’s easier than ever to forego Microsoft software altogether, and we are approaching a post-Windows world as mobile devices take over more and more functions we once relied on desktop and laptop computers to handle for us, and Apple is continuing their glacial march toward a unified macOS and iOS/iPadOS.
leeloo,
I agree 100% with Morgan’s answer.. Many holdouts (including myself btw) can no longer run windows 7 effectively because we are reliant on 3rd party software updates that cease being compatible with windows 7. This is by design as microsoft ensures new runtimes are incompatible and configures visual studio to automatically update 3rd party software to break backwards compatibility with older operating systems. So even when the software otherwise works fine on older operating systems, these incompatible microsoft dependencies mean users will no longer be able to update the software without also updating the operating system.
There’s validity to the notion that people have to sleep in the beds that they make. But at the same time some of them get roped in without a choice. In the case of windows 10 Microsoft literally set out to trick users into installing windows 10. Even those protesting the latest version of windows can still end up being forced to pay for windows licenses with new computers.
This is something to keep in mind with market share numbers. Because of coercive bundling, microsoft gets to include swaths of the alt-os community and those who installed older versions of windows under new windows sales.
This type of tracking is potentially more invasive as microsoft isn’t even a party to the session/data. If this is ultimately considered acceptable, then there will be few boundaries left. Tech companies will have carte blanche to spy on anything they want simply by redesigning the technology to intercept data.
NaGERST brings up a good point, it seems to run afoul of GDPR’s rules over user consent. I would think that at a minimum, in order to comply, microsoft needs to prompt for consent . Many users would just click through without paying attention anyway, but at least they would have the opportunity to make an informed choice. This would be better than spying on them without notice.
The really sad part about this isn’t what they are doing, it’s that this behavior has been completely normalized, and people don’t care. For that reason, they will continue to dial up the surveillance and encroachment into peoples’ personal lives even more.
But hey, I think they need a new corporate slogan/motto now. Something like: “Your business is our business.” Or perhaps “We just want to get to knooooow you.” (said in a creepy voice)
If they don’t care, then it isn’t a problem. We don’t need to try to “protect” people from something they don’t deem as a threat. Of course that sucks for the tiny minority who care but might not have viable options, but that’s how life is in all other aspects as well.
How does this square up with EU law?
Microsoft has plans to upload EU law from your computer to Azure, “enhance” it, then download the modified EU law back to your computer; in a stealthy way that nobody is told about. š
The EU doesn’t care as long as there is some mechanism for opting out.
Although it would be amusing to ban all outbound traffic by default and force browsers to ask for users for “permission for compromising your security by connecting to the internet” on the first start.
People send all sort of pictures to Microsoft willingly. Concept of privacy, when it comes to such companies, has long been dead. So complaining about it in my opinion is counter productive. That is complaining about something, just to ease your mind, and after to go ahead and do it. It’s the same thing as saying we are all going to use GNU/Linux or will save the environment. Total bullshit.
Geck
Morally there’s a huge difference between knowingly & intentionally sending data to microsoft versus having them take data from under people’s noses without consent.
It’s not lost on me that you are the one who used to believe linux will save all of us if we just keep giving it more time. Sometimes people have idealistic visions that get tarnished by harsh realities. You seem to be especially tormented by this duality. I sympathize with this conflict, though as a realist I’ve surrendered the notion that we live in an ideal world. We do not. Freedoms always have to be fought for, otherwise they can and will be lost.
That was my point. People in this day and age do intentionally send data to Microsoft. They want to use other people computers and have data stored and to be viewed from there. The idea of end user privacy is a non existing concept. No, GNU/Linux won’t save us all. With time more and more hardware is supported. That was the debate. With upstream device drivers. Compared to some micro kernel. Where it is splendid at doing a “Hello, world!”. Beyond that you as the end user can not do much with it. And here people that want to have root access to their devices and want to have control over the software on their device. They can have it with GNU/Linux. As you get the whole package to make it work. But this is not important to majority of people and they don’t want to be saved in the fist place. So bottom line majority of people couldn’t care less if Microsoft is a peeping Tom or not. The idea they will stop using Edge and will switch to Chrome because of it. Just let that sink in for a while.
Geck,
IMHO it’s extremely problematic to blur the lines between users of a service knowingly sending data to microsoft versus microsoft discretely adding tracking functions to local applications. You are playing into their hand by equating the two as one and the same.
Be that as it may, I still think obtaining consent is important both legally and morally.
For the end result to be exactly the same.
Geck,
This is false and I expect you to know better. To use a crude metaphor, you could say there is no difference between rape and consensual sex when the result is the same. However there is a world of difference between giving people a choice versus doing it without permission.
The reality is most people would just complain about the annoying pop-up. Really couldn’t care less. Like doh. Why are you asking me the obvious question. Just give me what i want. Enhanced by something like AI. Should there be a pop-up for that too? Like saying hay, i am AI. I stole all the knowledge on the internet without giving any credit. And i am now presenting it as originally produced content by myself. Proceed? Most of people would click NO? Right.
Geck,
Well, then we have a very fundamental disagreement. I feel it’s extremely irrational and unwise to disregard the importance of consent, but if that’s what you believe so be it. Remember this though the next time someone does something to you against your will, you were complicit in the dismissal of the need for consent.
And Windows users CONTINUE to “trust” Microsoft. What idiots!!! Apple is far from perfect but compared to Google, Microsoft and Facebook they look great. Again, STILL FAR from perfect. But at least they TRY to not have any of your data on their servers without telling you about it. Not perfect. Not perfect. Not perfect but FAR BETTER.
Sabon,
To be fair, for every windows user who is an idiot there are proportionally just as many apple users who are under apple’s reality distortion field. Microsoft receives the brunt of the criticism over telemetry, but apple has long collected similar telemetry data on its users.
https://mspoweruser.com/macos-big-sur-has-its-own-telemetry-privacy-nightmare/
And if you try and block the connections phoning home to apple, system functionality that’s thought to be local becomes unreliable/unstable because it was in fact phoning home to apple.
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/437068/eliminating-all-apple-telemetry
Alas, users who actually care and want things to go back to the way they used to be remain in a tough spot because all the major tech companies are betraying user interests, they’re just doing it in different ways.
It is not just Windows users that “trust” Microsoft.
My primary OS is Linux and I have been a Firefox user since the Firebird / Phoenix days but I have found myself using Edge increasingly often even on Linux. It “just works” and the convenience has been sucking me in. For example, conferencing applications like GoToMeeting work in Edge but not in Firefox. My employer subscribes to Office 365 and I use that on Linux as well, especially Outlook and Teams. I have found myself using Excel and PowerPoint instead of LibreOffice a few times and those bring OneDrive along with them. Obviously I know I am being tracked with all of those but I suppose it bothers me less when it comes specifically to work related activity.
Google Chrome probably works as well or better than Edge but, ironically, I stay away from Chrome for “trust” and “surveillance” reasons. I had been warming to Microsoft ( I quite like .NET for example ). Some of their recent shenanigans are certainly giving me pause though. The one that bothers me most is the instrumentation that they are building into office to allow employers to snoop on and micromanage their employees. It is a dangerous road.
Brave gets cited as a privacy focused browser but the crypto stuff rubs me the wrong way and I am not sure how deeply we can trust their intentions. Even Firefox has flirted with being a bad actor it seems. I find myself cheering on the Ladybird folks in the hope that we can someday have at least one browser engine free from overtly commercial interests.
It is exhausting to have to constantly research how the invasive front is expanding. The same goes for having to partition work from personal use of the same technologies. First world problems I guess.
This likely is not even for spying, but to steal more images to train ML models; MS & Google have already ripped most of the shallow web, but there is Meta with loads of pictures locked-up inside their ecosystem, and also lots of smaller providers. With such tricks, MS can rip this as well, and also rely and dilute responsibility for infringements over their users.