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Did you know that Microsoft just turns Copilot writing assist on for webpages in Microsoft Edge?
So like, if you type in edit boxes, it just... gets sent to Microsoft? Straight up?
And this is enabled by default?
So first, what the actual hell? Second, why is nobody talking about this? How the hell is right now the first time I find out about this?

reshared this

in reply to Winter blue tardis🇧🇬🇭🇺

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Momo

@tardis
Next Windows update silently be like "Oh, this is disabled? Let me turn it on again quickly for the user! It's better that way..."

This is why I stopped using Windows and deleted my Facebook account 20 years ago: When shit suddenly started to automagically switching itself back on again. And nowadays they don't even hide it anymore: "Oh, so you disabled us to collect your data on all of your devices. Do you want to re-enable it? - Yes! / Ask me later."
@talon

@Talon @Winter blue tardis🇧🇬🇭🇺
in reply to Winter blue tardis🇧🇬🇭🇺

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Momo

@tardis
It's okay. My work computer runs Win11 and goes full copilot because my employee put "By happily and curiously adopting Copilot we archieve an productivity gain of 16%!" in our annual team targets.

I asked what the relevant productivity baseline value us (that we need to increase by 16%) and in what SI unit one measures productivity (is it Watts? Watts per hour?) How do you even measure productivity? I mean we need to know that so that we are able to tell when we archieved that KPI and since it's bonus relevant, this means a few thousand bucks for some of us...

The answer was: "Well, that team target is... more like a... work in progress... thingy..." which is management german legalese for "If you have copilot activated you automatically scored that target by 100%". So... here we are.
@talon

@Talon @Winter blue tardis🇧🇬🇭🇺
in reply to Talon

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Fionnáin

in fairness, a lot of people talked about this when Windows 11 was being rolled out. It caused a lot of people to switch to Linux. But those who know don't want to flog a dead horse when they think other people already know. Obviously, plenty of people still don't.

I think MS's communications team is much stronger at suppressing this than the internet's ability to spread the message, and there is the real problem.

in reply to Talon

mastodon - Link to source

Andrzej Stamburski

Ms Windows is not an OS. It is an Microsoft endpoint at your home to serve Ms business. Edge is not a webbrowser. It is a tool of Microsoft to know what you are browsing in the web. Chrome is not a web browser, it is a tool of Google. Android is not an OS, it is a tool for many companies to inform them everything about you, what you watch, what you listen to, what you are interested in, when you go to bed and when you wake up.
I'm surprised that you are surprised.
in reply to Talon

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Paul Schoonhoven 🍋🍉

@schmidt_fu I agree with Florian. It was only that I had some issues with MS in the early days that I had an early warning about the direction MS took. Most people don't want t know (and should not have to know) what is happening in that box we call a computer, laptop or phone.

And ... On the internet everything was free, remember? We* just did not see the price we paid and did not know how much profit is being made with all the data grabbing.

*just about everyone. some nerds excluded.

@Florian Schmidt
in reply to Paul Schoonhoven 🍋🍉

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Talon

@vosje62 @schmidt_fu it's less about expecting it, but seeing it actually happen. Not only that though, but the fact that nobody is reporting on it. This is the default browser for Windows. Many people will have absolutely no clue that this is happening, and that it's just on by default. Vulnerable people who have no clue to even worry about this kind of thing. We make them use computers and then all they get is betrayal by big tech.
@Florian Schmidt @Paul Schoonhoven 🍋🍉
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