Windows 10 may share your WiFi passwords (security warning)

[TheAppletons]

"If you're taking up Microsoft on its offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10, you should know that the new operating system has a feature, called Wi-Fi Sense, that automatically shares your Wi-Fi passwords with others.

When Wi-Fi Sense is enabled, anyone you have in your Skype, Outlook or Hotmail contacts lists — and any of your Facebook friends — can be granted access to your Wi-Fi network as long as they're within range. Microsoft added this feature to save users' time and hassle, but as independent security blogger Brian Krebs put it, some security experts see it as "a disaster waiting to happen.

-----snip----

Despite the safeguards, the issue is nonetheless dangerous for those users, and there are many of them, who agree to everything their computers ask of them. If they agree to share Wi-Fi Sense with their Facebook friends, then, yep, all of their Facebook friends will be given access to their networks. (We've already encountered this request from Windows 10, which didn't really explain what the feature entailed.)"

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/windows-10-may-share-wi-164057617.html

[Brit_Doggie]

Woohoo can't w8 unsubscribe from true and get free wifi.

[NeverSure]

Mine is turned off. Although I didn't take a screen shot, I mentioned earlier that there's a stop screen with "advanced" at the bottom. I clicked that and found a lot of things I didn't want, mostly sharing info with Microsoft. This could have been one of those things and maybe that's why mine is off.

From your link: "If you want to disable Wi-Fi Sense on your computer and wipe its memory, that's not difficult. Go to Settings, select "Network & Internet" and then click on "Wi-Fi." Select "Manage Wi-Fi Settings," scroll to the Wi-Fi Sense section, and turn off each and every feature."

Cheers.

[fang37]

NeverSure

I am confident that you have the capabilities to commercially market your knowledge of W 10 installations!

Congrats from a Windows DH.

[thedemon]

It does seem like a solution to a first world problem. But it isn't quite as bad as some press are making out.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-windows-10s-wi-fi-sense-feature-is-not-a-security-risk/

[BuaBS]

Should have named it Windows 10 , NSA edition or Windows 10 , Now we know everything about you .

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-02/surveillance-state-goes-mainstream-windows-10-watching-logging-everything

[mahtin]

It does seem like a solution to a first world problem. But it isn't quite as bad as some press are making out.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-windows-10s-wi-fi-sense-feature-is-not-a-security-risk/

Nice demolition job, Ed.

[uksomchai]

When 10 is installed you get a notification alert in the task bar that prompts you to activate or not this feature. Simply turn it off if you don't want it. Why do people make hard work of everything these days ?

The windows haters will be all over the forum but having used windows since 95 I can say that this is their best yet and I for 1 am very happy to get it for free

[NeverSure]

I didn't really get a notification per se. I got a stop screen with the defaults and the opportunity to either say "next," or there was a smaller word "advanced" at the bottom. If I hadn't been paying attention and clicked on "advanced," I wouldn't have seen what was happening. As it happened, under advanced I chose to disallow several things, one at a time, mostly reporting information to Microsoft. I recall one that was monitoring my browsing, and I don't recall the others except that I didn't like them and I disallowed them.

By default, I believe there is a significant loss of privacy.

Cheers.

[NeverSure]

The more I think about it, the defaults weren't listed. It said something more like "continue with current settings (recommended)" and at the bottom of all of that was the word "advanced." When I clicked advanced to see what it was all about there was a menu of things to uncheck and a basic explanation of what they are. That's where I unchecked everything.

It would have been easy to blow right past that.

Cheers.

[NeverSure]

Here's an article from The Register about this opt out and stop screen. I REALLY don't like this. Here also is a picture of the stop screen I've been describing. I recalled it saying "advanced" but obviously it says "customize settings". I think this is vital but if it is missed the settings are described above to change it.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/03/windows_10_privacy_defaults/