| Why is ANY of this surprising? And, why is MS's *belated*
| adoption of this such an issue of concern?
|

It's of concern to me. The behavior is indecent and
uncivilized. Don't you care to help build and maintain
a healthy society? We're currently in a transition period
where we have to figure out how new technologies will
be used. Do you want to leave those decisions to amoral
corporations whose only interest is in getting you to buy
more stuff? Don't we all deserve better than that? And
that's just the current issue. With near-total surveillance
between business and gov't we're getting into unknown
territory. We're inadvertently redefining human rights.

I talk about it, also, because I'm in a position to know
more than most people do. A big part of the success of
spyware/targetted advertising is that it's done in a non-
intrusive way, so that most people don't actually see it
working. I figure that if they care then they have a right
to know. They also have a right to know and understand
that the products they've been using are being redefined.
It's not just a matter of whether you mind Microsoft
doing market research by spying on you. Microsoft is
actually taking the product out of your hands.

Your examples are all good examples, but as everyone's
mother knows, the fact that "the other kids are doing it"
doesn't make it right.

And there are numerous degrees involved. I'm not a
Costco member. I try to be loyal to locally owned and
family owned companies when possible. I don't have any
store loyalty cards. I almost never use Google and have
most of their domains (from google analytics to doubleclick)
blocked in my HOSTS file. I've moved toward cash for
more purchases, both for privacy and security. I don't
use a debit card. (Why? Your bank gets a fee for every
purchase, which you ultimately pay. They're charging you
to use your own money.)

I don't go to casinos, no. I never did understand that
habit. Though I can see the appeal for people struggling
financially. Once you buy the lottery ticket or feed the
one-arm bandit, for a brief period you've bought a fantasy
that just possibly all of your troubles might be solved.

I exercise maximum privacy
online and don't find it terribly inconvenient. Why would
I allow cookies, other than the occasionally necessary
session cookie that gets deleted when I leave the site?
It's an easy setting in Firefox. There's no need for anyone
allowing themselves to be tracked that way. I don't use
a cellphone very much. If I did I wouldn't leave it constantly
turned on. I certainly wouldn't agree to wear an Apple or
Google tracking collar -- which is what their phones are.

All of the examples above are ways to improve privacy.
Most involve very little effort or inconvenience. All that's
required is that we pay attention a bit and not always
grab the cheapest price or easiest convenience no matter
what.

Your solution of "just don't use it" can work to some
extent, but when there are no other options that's not
a solution. Clearly you think there are already no other
options, since your suggestion is presented snidely. All
I'm saying is that it doesn't cost you much to sit up,
pay attention, and make deliberate decisions, rather than
simply throwing your hands up because it's easy.


| When you walk into a department store, cameras watch your
| movement through the store -- where you stop, what you
| look at, etc. If your phone is on, they can track its
| motion. When you make your purchase (credit card!),
| they know what your buying habits are (over time) -- what
| time of day you shop, what products you buy at which time
| of the month/year/etc.
|
| Costco member? Do you think they just use that card to
| "authorize" you to make a purchase? Of course they track the
| sorts of purchases you make, etc.
|
| Frequent a casino? They've characterized how much they can count
| on you to *lose* before you'll depart. And, how frequently you'll
| return for "another lesson". Likewise, the size of the incentive
| that they need to coerce you back a bit earlier than you'd
| otherwise like.
|
| Drive a car? Chances are your license plates are routinely
| scanned and the approximate location of your vehicle as well
| as your typical travel activities recorded.
|
| Visit a web site? "Welcome back!" E.g., cookies were originally
| a hack to allow a site to *avoid* having to store data about your
| visit on *their* server (we'll let the user pay for that storage
| on *their* computer!). Anyone who thinks a site can't store
| information about every visitor now ECONOMICALLY has their head
| too far in the sand. Turn off cookies? Pfft! Who cares. You
| can be identified by your browser footprint, IP address, etc.
|
| Of course, google tracks your searches. And, reads your mail (if you
| or the "other party" are serviced by google's mail servers)
|
| [N.B. You needn't have a gmail.com address to be a victim!]
|
| USPS routinely images the outsides of all first class mail. So,
| to and from are typically known.
|
| The more insidious aspects of MS's spying include their ability
| to catalog audio and video (e.g., have YOUR voice "on file")
|
| [Ever hear a machine speak *in* your voice? It's scary! "Wait!
| I never said that!!"]
|
| Facial recognition software tracks your presence in public places.
|
| etc.
|
| In virtually all of these cases, you have an option to NOT be tracked;
| by simply not participating in the activity that is being tracked!
| E.g., don't send USPS mail, don't shop in department stores, don't
| do web searches, etc.
|
| The same applies to MS/W10 -- don't *use* it! :