Simply put, improve, implament, and emphasize personal privacy and protections on one’s personal computer where Microsoft and other spying entities cannot spy or tamper with one’s PC. One’s PC should be personal and private. If one conducts illegal activity, then they should be subject to investigation and privacy lawfully removed. Overall, keep one’s PC private and one’s privacy protected.
Keep one's PC Private. Prevent Microsoft and Other Companies from Spying and Tampering with One's PC
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Yes to enforcing privacy laws against big tech. I doubt there’s an actual need to write any new ones to do this though.
That being said, the problem is deeper than you’re probably aware. Modern computers are backdoored at the hardware level.
Privacy isn’t an all-or-nothing thing though; these guys have a lot of good information. Ad-Free Privacy Tool/Service Recommendations - Privacy Guides
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I’d add into that to remove all blocks to accessing the BIOS on the machine you own. This access is required if you attempt to change out the operating system. No manufacturer should have any proprietary control over how your machine is run. No company like Microsoft should be able to lock you out of your computer without contacting you first. No one should have more control over your personal device than you, the owner.
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It would also be a good idea to have an option to disable windows updates permanently along with clearing the PC cashe data yourself (which to my understanding is partly windows update’s function).
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This was a post to a similar policy proposal regarding overly-intrusive data collection, but seems quite fitting and applicable in this (Paul’s) policy proposal regarding OS invasive data collection, so I will repost again here…
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There probably needs to be additional safeguards in place for tech companies who claim a significant share of a market space. For instance, a small company, having 1% market share should have a bit less restriction on it than another company that owns 99% of the market share, and would be considered monopolistic in its coverage.
That said, for a company with significant share of a market (ie: Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google, etc) there should not be fine print terms of service that activates as soon as the customer uses said product, platform, etc. where the customer automatically and oftentimes unknowingly opts-in to invasive data collection without recourse or alternative. If the company is so large that it dominates a market, and the customer cannot effectively engage a competitor of said company, that company should have options available to the customer at signup, allowing the customer to opt-out of private data collection.
If service is diminished because of it, or more ads show up, or other degraded features are in place to compensate for the lost data collection, at least the consumer has a choice in the matter. Indiscriminate data collection in order to build a physical, psychological, or talent profile, (like measuring how fast one can complete a visual security puzzle, or how many words they type per minute, or inventory collections that are done by attempting to wirelessly connect with every wi/fi enabled appliance, vehicle, and product around the home and neighbor’s homes, collecting network and identification information on them as well. or machine MAC addresses, GPS and geolocation data collection and storage, which have NOTHING to do with the company’s products are offerings, should be prohibited, and not be assumed as granted by the consumer by agreeing to any terms of service. It is one thing to collect info on a user in order to provide a secure and reliable product or service experience DURING THE
PRODUCT USAGE SESSION – it is entirely another thing to take that data and upload it to a remote cloud server, to be saved indefinitely in order to build an information profile on that user AFTER THE PRODUCT USAGE SESSION HAS ENDED. Keeping the data AFTER it is useful to the user session is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, regarding illegal searches and SEIZURES, and the right of the American people to be secure in their “papers, and effects”. (Note: “Data” = “Papers” in 2025). There must be a line drawn somewhere on data collection and the subsequent profiting of that remotely-stored data. The data necessarily collected must be discarded after the session has ended and other data which is not directly needed for the MINIMUM requirements of creating or support a customer’s session, should not be collected at all. Currently, the only line being drawn is – nothing.
When customers agree to use the product or service, and they log in, automatically signaling that any data can be collected at any time for any reason and sold to any other third-party data company – this must end, and defined rules must be put into place that will allow companies to collect relevant product- and service-related data, while at the same time, allow customers’ private data to be safeguarded against monopolistic-level companies who attempt to build value in customer info by building complete profiles on them, which have nothing to do with the product or service that they are offering.
It is one thing, where there are hundreds of small competitive companies out there, and half collect a lot of data on users and the other half offers products and services that collect very little. In this case, the consumer has a choice in the market and can select based on personal comfort levels of data collection. It is entirely different when two companies, like Microsoft and Apple, collect massive amounts of very personal information on their customers and build profiles on them, and because they dominate a market by 95%+ (ie: in Operating Systems for PCs), the customers have very little alternative to shop elsewhere for an OS provider – there only choice is: 1) Extensive Data Collection or 2) Do without a personal computer. This must change.
In Summary: Any and all “terms of service” are instantly NULL AND VOID if it calls for, or attempts to participate in overriding the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, protecting that American People from illegal searches and seizures. And the libelous actions taken in this invasive data collection should be considered as harmful and damaging behavior taken by the company of said products and services, against its customers/users.
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Thanks. 
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That’s exactly right. At the hardware level they are able to (likely) take everything on our computers. They don’t need logmein or anything else to turn on someone’s computer. I disconnect my computer from the internet before turning it off, but they’ve probably stolen everything already anyways. It’s very disturbing.
You might be interested in learning something even more alarming. Your computer can be accessed via your power cord. The circuitry is already embedded on the motherboard and within the power supply of the PC. As well, smart meters operate on wi/fi and can actually probe their surroundings by “pinging” signals and waiting for reply pings from other wireless devices nearby. Once the reply ping comes back, a tcp/ip “handshake” is done and a wireless network connection is established. Smart meters can make connections (as well as any other device in the areaa - like other computers, smart phones, vehicle wifi systems, your neighbor’s smart devices, including their smart meter as well, etc) Wireless networks are being created and terminated ALL THE TIME around you without you even knowing it. And since every wifi advice as a primary objective of connecting to anything and everything else that it can in order to establish an internet connection, it almost always finds a device that will also connect to remote servers over the internet (the cloud) where data can be downloaded and the equipment’s machine address and other profiling info can be cataloged and finally, software downloaded onto that device/pc/etc. or setting changed on it to lower security parameters, or info uploaded from that device (think contact info, private pdf/spreadsheet files/etc). This unadvertised PC “feature” is well-known (and frequently used) to U.S. intelligence agencies in order to perform illegal searches and seizures. Don’t think your files are safe because you dont pay for internet service – your smart meter is always listening. Proof? OK - when the meter reader goes down your street, collecting your electricity usage for the month, how do you think they are getting those numbers? There is a device in their vehicle that pings all the meters and the meters talk back to this device, giving up the data to them (your kilowatt metrics). Your smart meters have already collected all of the wi/fi capable devices in your home, including your PCs and phones. Did you explicitely give the power company permission to collect that private info? Probably, buried down in some fine print somewhere, under the stipulation that it be collected in order for your home to have electricity delivered to it. This is how the game works. Is it a violation of the Constitution? Absolutely, because NO “terms of service” can override the Constitution, and make it Null and Void. But companies do this anyway, hoping that you will not object to it – most dont because they dont even know. Now YOU know – I just told you. The end goal is something called" IoT" (internet of things – go look it up). It is a cyber-ecosystem where everything, from your PC to your washing machine and stove, to even yourself (via subdermal nanotech) has a unique internet address and can be “hacked” to either push or pull information back and forth. A device might hop through 10 different internet-connected “things” before uploading a piece of private information up to “the cloud” for permanent storage. Violation of the 4th? Of course. But they don’t care. They simply want you to be an idiot about it. This is why they use kindergarten terms like “the cloud” instead of calling it what it really is: "a vast array of dynamically spun up server arrays that perminently house massive amounts of data about every device and person in the country. “Cloud” sounds less threatening, doesn’t it? Kinda like a “happy face” emoji, even.
You are covered up with wireless network systems all around you, all trying to make connections to everything else. You can control that if you turn your power off on your device. The problem is when your device is switched on without your knowing it (which can be done wirelessly or through the power cord of your pc). I have actually seen a PC I had sitting next to me that I have super secure because all of my settings/features for communication disabled. So the PC has not had an OS upgrade in years. It tries to update but I have it locked down. I noticed a strange noise one day and thought it might be a distant jet – I looked over and saw my PC booting up on its own. This is when I understood the reason why PCs started coming out with a “soft” power button on them. The power button doesnt go straight to the power supply – there is a software layer of control between the button and the power. This is why when you press your power button, your PC doesnt instantly go off, but instead, closes down your Operating System first and does any additional housekeeping before shutting down.
This same software layer also provides the ability to turn your machine back on, even when you never pressed the power button. And once the machine is on, it runs the firmware, boots itself up, hits the registry and runs all of the startup routines – including looking for a network connection – more specifically, for wi/fi systems, it scans the entire area for another device (ie: an internet router or another pc or even a a smart meter) in order to establish a connection, with the primary goal of connecting with the “Mother Ship” – in case of the PC running Windows – that ship is the Microsoft Server Farm (MS OS cloud), where it can upload and downloud anything it wants, change registry and network settings, etc.
Bottom line: You dont need to just disconnect from your internet provider. You also need to unplug your power cord from your PC so that it cannot communicate with your smart meter over your house wiring network, because; once your PC is identified by your smart meter boots up, it will even look into your neighbor’s home or car (anything within wifi range) to establish a connection, and then off to the races – your system will be updated through those remote devices if bandwidth permits, according to the way Microsoft wants the settings to remain, and with a copy of your private info suddenly sitting on a Microsoft server farm (cloud) thousands of miles away from your home. One thing the computer cannot do with help from other devices, is run without power. If your power cord is unplugged from your machine, it does not matter what remote signals are sent to it requesting it to boot up and turn on – it cannot run without a steady supply of power. This is the safest way to ensure privacy – keep your devices unplugged and unable to run. For those with UPS (universal power supplies) take note your PC can communicate with other devices like car systems even when the entire neighborhood power is out, because you are supplying your own electricity to your device… Knowlege is power – use it. Know thine enemy, as they say.
Hope this helps to understand how your devices actually work against you, and where your govt and corporate “stakeholders” want to take you. These devices are nice to have, but you need to keep them locked down so that they dont auto-establish connections with other devices and eventually the internet. Now armed with the information in this post, perhaps others can further flesh out Paul’s policy proposal and perhaps build some regulation and effective policy that keeps the “powers that be” from violating your 4th Amendment protections via digital devices and unConstitutional “terms of service” that are truly “null and void”, even if you agreed to them or not, since NOTHING can override the Constitution. It is the highest law in the land and cannot be undone by some foolish “terns of service”. The fine print is not protecting these corporations…they only want you to THINK they are – they are still liable. And while you might craft such policies, target the FCC agency as the focus for ensuring that our 4th Amendment remains applicable and enforced, since wireless communications ALSO fall under their jurisdiction, and they are massively failing in their duties and sworn oaths at this time.
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I’ve come in, in the morning and have seen how it was turned on in the middle of the night. I will be unplugging it from now on. Not that it will do much good. I’m sure it baked into the hardware at this point to send out whatever they want whenever they want when I’m using it.
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