Please understand … I am not a computer techie or attorney, but I do try to read and understand any and all licensing agreements before installing on my computer.
Why is this important? Because more and more of our constitutional rights have been gradually “downgraded” over the past 60 years. Our privacy rights have been so gradually chipped away so that the citizenship has not taken notice and many of the younger generations of Americans (I am of the “baby boomer” generation) believe the way government is currently functioning is the “norm” or is considered “progress” … it is anything but!
The United States’ Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were written by James Madison, the fourth president of the United States) specifically placed limitations on governmental powers necessary to safeguard an individual’s liberty.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution secures an individual’s right to be free from government intrusion into their homes with a legally acquired warrant. It provides that:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Does installing Windows 10 on your computer allow them to have access to your personal files and information? YES. Microsoftâs licensing agreement states:
“Finally, we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to:
comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies;
protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of the services, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;
operate and maintain the security of our services, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or
protect the rights or property of Microsoft, including enforcing the terms governing the use of the services – however, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property of Microsoft, we will not inspect a customer’s private content ourselves, but we may refer the matter to law enforcement.”
Why is this even an issue? Because in the United States’ Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were written by James Madison) there are limitations placed on governmental powers necessary to safeguard an individual’s liberty.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution secures an individual’s right to be free from government intrusion into our homes by providing that:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
There is a considerable amount of internet chat on this issue, but the best answers in those threads I found were as follows:
“It [License Agreement] is so general and wide scoping that Microsoft can interpret it as needed. So, it means anything that your Windows 10 OS touches is fair game. It does not matter if Microsoft “never intends” or “never wants” to search your computer. They now have a document proving that you agreed to it once you hit accept and the can exercise that ability anytime. NSA wants your files? No problem. No warrant needed. Microsoft already has your permission. “Microsoft, we want to see a hash of all content at IP X. We know they run Windows 10.” Adobe wants to lock down all you college kids using illegal copies of Photoshop? No problem. “Hey Buddy, Microsoft! We want a list of everyone using this product key.” The fact that the terms say flat out “we will” collect should stop you in your tracks. It’s no longer “shut up and take my money!” It’s “shut up and take my privacy!” And for you that say “don’t do anything wrong and you have nothing to worry about” you are morons. Microsoft is collecting your account passwords and credit card information. It’s right there!! They tell you this point blank! Wait until a server gets hacked or a disgruntled Microsoft employee decides to take your information. I did nothing wrong, but because Microsoft can mass gather this, it’s free for the taking. I mean… Unless Microsoft has suddenly became the pillar of security… Right?” ….
…. “Do you have a ‘Gmail’ account? Or an ‘apple’ account? Because if you do, you’re giving far more information to Google and Apple than a MS account would do.
âYou can go to the ‘privacy’ settings and shut almost all of that stuff down in Windows 10. I don’t see the big deal here.
âSeriously, MS has been collecting statistics since XP – but not nearly the amount of data you’d consider to be private that Google collects.
âIf you use Google, you are already giving up your privacy. Stop using Google, Gmail, and then worry about error and diagnostic information that Windows is sending (which can be turned off!)” ….
…. “Do you think they couldn’t before, at least on PCs with OneDrive installed? Personally I’m not particularly concerned that they were doing this or are now, because the NSA, the relevant agency that provides the FBI and police departments with illegally obtained evidence then tells them to hold fake investigations to hide where they got it, already has access to every file on my hard drive anyway. They can take whatever they want whenever they want and they watch everything you do on your computer, all new PCs and other computer devices sold in the US are bugged at the hardware level and have been for years.
âIn fact, one of the Snowden leaks, if I recall correctly, said that Cisco was using fake shipping addresses and complicated warehouse networks because they knew the NSA was picking up their devices and bugging them before they got shipped to the customer and they (Cisco) were trying to get around that. They can add and delete files at will, they can control your computer, and every major OS and hardware platform has been fundamentally bugged since around 2005.
âI won’t stop using Microsoft products because, frankly, even if they’re voluntarily handing over information which is now allowed specifically in the EULA, we know they’ve been doing it under the table as part of the PRISM program since at least Vista, and even if they weren’t part of PRISM, the hardware would still be bugged. What difference does it make that the government will now have 2 copies instead of 1? None whatsoever.
âI’ll say to you what I say to people who are scared of Google: They are already collecting your personal information, selling it to advertisers, giving it to the government, and generally screwing you over whether you’ve agreed to any EULA and use any services of theirs or not. They’re not going to stop just because you don’t have an account. They create “ghost profiles” of you by sucking up your personal information from around the web and have no less information about you than they would if you gave it to them. If you’re wondering whether these are attached to your real name and address, the answer is usually yes. When you create an account, you’re just clearing up some minor inaccuracies in the profile they already have of you and, make no mistake, are using. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, everyone does this.
âSo, since there’s no escape, you might as well use their services to reap some benefit in exchange for the data collection they’re already doing anyway.”….
…. “Android’s an operating system, how do you feel about it tracking and logging your location, who you call, what apps you use and how frequently, reading the contents of your text messages and so forth. If you read the full policy it’s very clear that Microsoft is protecting itself from litigation after they’re served a warrant for data stored on OneDrive.
âIt’s 2015 for crying out loud, every photo people upload to Facebook is time stamped and geotagged and if you’re in it they know it. Every search you do on Google is tied directly to you, even if you’re incognito because they keep track of your MAC address. If you are using an intern connected device of any kind every bite of data you send or receive is tracked and logged and someone somewhere can access your none shared local files with or without your permission. I’m not saying it’s right, but turning off OneDrive syncing or switching to a local account wonât make any difference. If you have a problem with it, donât pull up your hoodie and put on a silly mask, run for a political office of any level and do your best to actually fix the problem.”
The last line in these threads sums up this issue for me. We need to have candidates elected to office who will guarantee to protect our Constitutional rights, including the Fourth Amendment.
Oath of President of the United States: âI do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.â
It is, therefore, the duty of the president (and those elected representatives in Congress) to ensure that no foreign country, entity, and that no individual or corporation (such as Microsoft in this instance) be allowed to remove these rights guaranteed to âWe the Peopleâ under our U.S. Constitution.
For any president or elected representative to violate their oath of office is an act of treason against the peoples of the United States.
Marcia “Katie” Stowe Baker is the wife of Dr. Jake Baker, publisher of TapWires.com, the mother of four children, eight grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
Fourth Amendment, Internet, Privacy, Microsoft Windows 10, U.S. Constitution, President’s Oath of Office
