Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics · HackerPapers discussions

Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics — mentioned by Terr_

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:52:06 GMT

> The printer thing seems pretty unrelated It's a simple example of how the arcane telemetry they demand is actually far more dangerous to you than it first appears. This is incredibly common when it comes to security and privacy issues, where it's not immediately obvious how things can be abused. (The truly obvious things tend to get fixed, after all.) > I don’t think [...] your Microsoft account has anything to do with telemetry My brother in tech, I think you're blinding yourself out of forlorn hope here. Microsoft has spent over a decade increasing the mandatory "telemetry", which…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics — mentioned by Terr_

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 23:18:10 GMT

That leads into a great example of how most OS "telemetry" is anything but safe or innocent: 1. Your printer probably puts a secret code into everything you print (not just money-like things) with the time and a serial number of the printer. [0] 2. Windows and MacOS constantly sends the serial-numbers of your connected devices back to the mothership. [1][2] 3. So when you print out a flyer that somehow annoys the regime, they read out the serial number, then call a buddy at Microsoft/Apple. 4. Now there are thugs knocking at your door to talk about how your picture was criminally mean to Dear…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics — mentioned by concinds

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 16:28:18 GMT

Forensic experts are a good information source on this: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2002.12506.pdf (Windows 10) "Required diagnostics" seem reasonable: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/required-d... Do note that "optional diagnostics" seem to include collecting filenames/authors/modification dates for Office files; the names of installed and removed applications, hardware information (with serial numbers), process execution history, Start Menu pins, app usage history, and more: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/windows-di...

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics — HN submission

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:32:12 GMT

Forensic analysis of the Windows telemetry for diagnostics

104 points; 12 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.