I heard Windows 11 has been updated to take screenshots of your computer. Is it theoretically possible for them to delete content from your PC or external hard drives if they can determine that you have pirated content on them? Can they theoretically report you for it? I know it’s unlikely but is it still possible? I’m thinking of switching to Linux and this may be the reason why.
Edit: Thank you all for your educated answers. I really appreciate y’all!
On the realm of possibilities, windows can do whatever it wants. If it is connected to the internet then yeah it would be possible for Microsoft to do something like that, but I wouldn’t be worried about it just for piracy. Something like that could be possible for detecting CP or things on that level but I doubt MS would go low enough to do that for simple pirated content.
First of all, you should definitely switch to Linux for a whole bunch of reasons, not the least of which is that Windows is a privacy and sovereignty disaster.
That said, copyright is a legal concept, not a technological one. There is no algorithmic check to know if content is pirated or not because the computer can’t know what legal rights you have. The file could be identical to one that can be obtained through BitTorrent, but maybe you have a license or are using it in such a way that is Fair Use. No way for the computer to tell.
Microsoft does have the technological capability to make Windows delete your stuff (and the possibility does make using Windows untenable), but they would definitely be wrong to do so.
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I read all of this and totally agree. I got a good laugh out of the snippet of the comment you pulled about making a radio out of coconuts on a desert island example. Because you know that’s pretty damn true.
What I find obnoxious with Linux and always had to this day, was the pretentiousness of some users that will spend any waking minute to browbeat anyone into using Linux. They always show up whenever someone has something to complain about with Microsoft Windows, big or small. Never fails, both ironically and unironically.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, THE moment people realize how much tinkering they’ll have to spend time at the terminal for, will turn them away from Linux. Yeah sure you’ve got the software library manager which is leaps and bounds an improvement. But by and large, you will still do a lot of installing, configuring, troubleshooting and more with the terminal. You’re going to be required to know commands and it’s going to require a lot of time at the search engine.
And nearly nobody has the patience for that at all. They want a computer and they want the operating system to do everything they want it to do for them. Windows just does that for them and more.
Linux to me, will always be a OS of choice for any laptop new or old that I get. It will never have a sniff at taking over my desktop because I just know that if I ran a Linux OS full-time everyday, that my limits will have been exhausted and I’ll be running back to Windows in no time. All because Linux can’t do everything I would want it to do, despite the progress it has made and it’s progress that shouldn’t be scoffed at either considering the long way it has come to be where it is today.
People who proudly proclaim they’re going to Linux whenever MIcrosoft shoots their feet off, is just making a rebellious statement. Who knows for real as to how comfortable they’d really be if they were using Linux 24/7.
While I agree with you, I think Microsoft as a giant corporation could still go for the “shoot first, ask questions later” approach, and delete your content and make you appeal if you disagree.
Yeah, that’s the “(and the possibility does make using Windows untenable)” part.
What you have heard about is a feature called “Recall”, which is something that has not actually rolled out and will only be coming to PCs with specific neural processing units. Other windows users will not be affected (although of course that will change over time as old devices are replaced with new).
Is it possible? Yes, of course it’s possible. You could say that about pretty much any operating system - including Linux distros - if the functionality turns out to be popular.
However, to be 100% clear, this is functionality that the user can disable (either entirely, or on an app-by-app basis). And data is never transacted to the cloud or with Microsoft. What’s on the device does not leave the device. It’s also really not in Microsoft’s own interest at all to try taking on that responsibility… How would they know if you paid for an app/game/song or not, even if they wanted to?
But back to your question: yes, of course it is possible. This type of technology has already been prototyped in different ways (e.g. Apple have done work about identifying CSAM on the iPhone, although not implemented).
Yes, Linux gives you a lot more control. If you were to make the switch, I would list a hundred other reasons that are far more compelling than this storm in a teacup.
That said, there’s absolutely no reason a Linux distro couldn’t also bring the same functionality, if there is consumer appetite for it.
If you are looking to truly make it “impossible”, you need to air-gap your machine and not connect to the internet anymore.
I would be more concerned about it deleting legally owned content that, for whatever reason, is no longer licensed.
For example:
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html
And I’m concerned that being unequally concerned about these two things puts the focus back on how the person obtained the data, and takes it away from the most important issue which is whether the person has a right to private space of their own on their computer.
While possible, I don’t thing MS would it opens too many problems for them.
Something to consider, say you had pirated content on your PC and you were in the middle of a lawsuit related to that pirated content, Microsoft then deletes that content from your PC as part of an automated system action. Did MS commit an act of evidence destruction?
It happens already. Windows “Defender” consistently quarantines pirated dll files i.e. EMP.dll might get flagged and you won’t be able to play your game like you expected because the file is now missing and you have to restore it.
The Windows system user has full control over the PC including hard drive content and network connection, so yes, it is theoretically possible. However, there are endpoint protection tools that also have full control over Windows, and if the OS ever deleted a user’s stuff, they’d notice and it would become public, which would be an insane PR nightmare for Microsoft.
Would Microsoft even care? Do normies think about this kind of thing?
Google’s gemini has been delivering some pants-on-head stupid results in the search and Google’s comment on the situation was basically “ya, it do be that way”.
There’s a difference between “haha silly LLM” and an operating system used by potentially billions of people, including businesses, governments, military, scanning and deleting your potentially sensitive information.
My point was to illustrate a comparable big corpo’s flippant response to negative PR.
We’ve entered a stage in the software industries development where these mega corps are making so much money off of your data that they simply don’t care about PR, very often responding to negative PR in a consumer hostile manner.
Besides, Microsoft has been scraping personal data through Windows for over a decade. Why would they stop now? Business/enterprise licenses will likely have the ability to disable the recall feature. Regular consumers can go fuck themselves, as usual.
Anything is theoretically possible on a closed source operating system. But it’s not likely. First of all, this “feature” is only compatible with “Copilot+” PCs, so your system probably won’t even get it. It also would run foul of privacy laws in in many places. Especially if they did that while claiming the screenshots only stay local. That’d be a huge lawsuit waiting to happen.
By “them” you mean Microsoft? Sure it’s theoretically possible. Just not realistic at all. Unless you pirate windows itself, MS doesn’t care about your pirated content.
There is a much more plausible ways of getting your data deleted or reported, like getting hacked, ransomwared or monitored by the government.
Switching OSes for that reason is a bit like moving to a bombshelter because you’re afraid of getting hit by an asteroid.
I could have sworn I read something about Windows 10 was already found deleting copyrighted material, maybe it was a fever dream.
I’m on Windows 10 and it hasn’t deleted anything I’ve pirated.
If this was true, my entire music collection, emulated games, the ebooks .etc would be all gone by now and I’d have nothing.
But yet, they remain.
Loot abides.
I doubt they’ll use screen shots to implement anything like piracy controls. It’s too messy and inaccurate, and there are easy and accurate ways to check for file signatures. Every virus scanner already does it.
If they’re going to institute license controls that’s how it would work. Any signature of unlicensed software would get locked out by file heuristics.
