Gaming Copilot is Watching You
Gaming Copilot is Watching You
Comments
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and its so long! we must have stuck in the eternal september of 1984
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Well that's not ominous at all.
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Someone wrote that code. I like to imagine that they know it's wrong, so they frame it as clearly as they can, without being fired. Guy could have written "Gaming Copilot is invading your privacy", or something like it, but that wouldn't pass.
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With Microsoft, that code could have been written by AI too.
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Its frankly fucking comedic. Someone seriously thought that was a good way for it to communicate that its turned on 😂
I mean, it's apt. But companies are usually better at pretending they're not up to anything nefarious 😅
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The box says "Gaming Copilot is watching YouTube", where "YouTube" is the name of the browser tab that was open when that screenshot was taken.
The dialog basically says "Gaming Copilot is watching [your currently opened app/tab]".
The text being cut off is making it look funny, but sadly no, no one wrote that message.
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Anything involving Copilot makes me happy to be a Mac user.
If you have a machine that runs Windows and the hardware is still good, it’s time to give Linux a chance. Look into Proton for gaming (it’s a translation layer, like WINE I suppose). And let’s stop acting like Macs are the odd one out. Macs run UNIX. Windows is the odd one out! ;)
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We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, referrer URL, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising. We may collect information regarding customer activities on our website, iCloud services, our iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, App Store for Apple TV and iBooks Stores and from our other products and services. This information is aggregated and used to help us provide more useful information to our customers and to understand which parts of our website, products, and services are of most interest. Aggregated data is considered non‑personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy. We may collect and store details of how you use our services, including search queries. This information may be used to improve the relevancy of results provided by our services. Except in limited instances to ensure quality of our services over the Internet, such information will not be associated with your IP address. With your explicit consent, we may collect data about how you use your device and applications in order to help app developers improve their apps.
This is from Apple's privacy policy
It seems to me like they collect telemetry just like Windows, and of course some Mac apps do have advertising which is personalized according to the beginning.
Apple has been doing extremely invasive telemetry tracking of your usage since before the release of Big Sur. Gee, I wonder where Microsoft got the idea to invasively gather all this telemetry from the user in the first place?
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This is stuff they collect when you are interacting with Apple services. The problem with windows copilot is that it collects info about everything you do, even when it has nothing to do with Microsoft.
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Wasn’t the point of Apple always that they don’t sell the data to third parties and not that they don’t collect anything?
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Anonymised telemetry is different from collecting information to sell for marketing, though.
Of course, in the realm of privacy, everyone should know their own threat model. Anonymised telemetry is not a threat to me. But if it's a threat to you (nebulous term — the person to whom I am replying, or anyone reading), then none of the big tech companies offer viable alternatives. You (same audience) cannot say Apple's telemetry is a problem and then use anything from Microsoft, Google, or Meta.
For my threat model, Meta/Facebook has always been a bridge too far. Google has too, for the most part. I used to think Microsoft was fine, but no longer do. But, that's just me.
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MacOS or whatever they call it now is "unix-like" but it's still ultimately a closed environment and definitely not the same, ethically, as a real FOSS OS. Apple doesn't care about you any more than Microsoft or Google, they're also in it for money.
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I keep hearing it's certified UNIX, and if you don't know "what they call it" despite me saying so in the post you replied to, I question your comprehension of the material in general.
Now, I'm not a UNIX guy, and I always thought it was bizarre that people said that. So I looked it up. I neither like nor trust Google, so I searched "macOS UNIX certification" on DuckDuckGo, which I believe uses Bing? Still not ideal, but at this point any search engine is going to get us some meaningful searches.
DDG's AI companion says this: MacOS has been certified as UNIX compliant, specifically as UNIX® 03, which means it adheres to an older version of the Single UNIX Specification. This certification indicates that macOS meets certain programming interface standards, but it does not necessarily reflect the latest UNIX standards.
The top link is from The Open Group which declares itself to be the official register of UNIX certified products. They list Apple macOS 26.0 Tahoe at the top (probably because Apple comes first alphabetically).
The Register is a little more dubious on the subject. It claims that macOS 15 Sequoia (the previous version; before they went to year-name releases rather than sequential) was also UNIX certified, but it goes on to say there are different certifications which are upgraded each year, and Apple only qualifies for UNIX 3 from 2002. It seems like there are much newer certifications Apple could maybe go after, but hasn't. It goes into what the certification means, but this isn't that interesting to me. But there is the link for anyone curious enough to dig.
Finally, OS News claims the certification is a lie but this is mainly clickbait. It says the same thing as The Register, that Apple only achieves the UNIX 3 certification. Then it goes on to accuse Apple of cheating to get to that point, and goes into some code — way past my expertise.
Today, I am a little bit more educated on macOS UNIX certification than I was yesterday. Maybe some of you are, too. Or maybe not, I really don't know. We're all on different paths. However, I am not convinced to change my assertion that it should be "Linux and macOS against Windows" rather than "Linux and Windows against macOS." The latter just seems wrong — why would Linux and Windows users align at all? Other than more similar hardware. Whereas Linux and macOS are both improvements over Windows.
Another thought occurs: is it even Linux users who are going against Mac users? I think it's probably mostly just Windows users trying to spread FUD.
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Proton is WINE, it's a fork maintained by Valve and Codeweaver with DXVK (Direct X -> Vulkan) on top. If you use Steam for gaming it will set up proton automatically for you.
And yes macOS is a step up from Windows, but it's still a walled garden. Want to develop an iOS app? You must buy a Mac, you must buy a developer license, you must use the worst IDE ever created, and you must distribute it through the app store (except in Europe in theory, but they worked hard to make the experience so miserable that almost no one bothers).
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If you have a machine that runs Windows and the hardware is still good,
Linux is often more forgiving on hardware requirements. I recently put Mint (with xfce) on a like 2013 laptop and it's fine. That's not even an especially lightweight distribution.
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Can confirm, I had a laptop that took multiple minutes to boot and was sluggish as hell, installed linux and after that it booted in 5-10 seconds and felt snappy again
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A year ago I put kali on a 2008 netbook and now it has a new life to be my shop machine so I don't have to use a touchscreen when I need a man with a heavy accent tell me how to replace the bearings on a 1989 planetary gear made by a company that hasn't existed since 1988
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Yes, it is. Mostly what Windows 11 won't run on is not a matter of the machine's capability of running the software, it's more about the hardware security to back Microsoft's DRM shit.
Even if Linux Mint isn't especially lightweight, there's a Linux distro for just about everybody out there. You could probably find one that runs on 00's or maybe, possibly, even 90s hardware, it would look like shit, it might look like OSes from back then, but it still could have modern support for whatever you want to tack onto it. I will never underestimate the versatility of Linux and its community.
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Doesn't Mac have something similar to Recall that they caught less flack for? I wouldn't trust Apple over Microsoft, they both want your data, Apple just has a façade of privacy awareness that they use to make sure others can't get their users data too
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The article you linked says rewind 3rd party, opt in, and stored locally. I don't think anyone would have an issue with microsoft's AI either if it was opt in and without telemetry.
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Mac used to have Time Machine, which was an automated, timed backup system. I think it was deprecated in the latest build? I never used it (only been a Mac user since 2023). I seem to remember hearing that Time Machine volumes — drives set up for that express purpose — were not going to be supported in the new version, which came out last month.
I don't remember Apple ever catching flak for Time Machine though, so we may be thinking of different things.
So yes, as previously established by someone else, Apple collects telemetry like the rest of them. They don't sell it to marketers though. They are still a computer/hardware company, not an advertising company (though, they do run ads).
If you're a gamer and you recognise that macOS is the worst computer platform for gaming, that's fine, but tell it to a gaming community. You're in a privacy community. I'm a gamer, but read the room. Not everyone in a privacy community is a gamer willing to sell privacy for a platform more friendly to gaming.
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if only i didn't have to use adobe products, i'd already be on linux.
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Adobe products suck so fucking much, all of the linux alternatives I've used are better in every way (for my purposes)
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I hate that for you. Adobe has gotten worse over the years, but I suppose I don't have to tell you that. There are a lot of great alternatives out there — I probably don't have to tell you that either — and I hope one day you can switch to them.
Of course, that's why work is a four letter word, and you can't eat your wants.
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Whenever I hear about heart disease, I'm sure glad I have cancer!
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"Windows 11 is the best OS since XP"
🗒️ COPILOT IS LISTENING🗒️
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Ceiling cat is watching you masturbate vibes.
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stop calling everything copilot, Microsoft. it's pathetic
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It's their AI brand 🤷♂️ like Samsung calling their android devices Galaxy, and Apple adding i to everything
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FWIW, the last time Apple released a new product with the prefix “i” was the iPad in 2010. They favour “Apple” now, as in “Apple Watch”, “Apple TV”, and “Apple Vision Pro”.
They found that you can’t copyright/trademark “i” as a prefix in and of itself. That means that while nobody else can bring out a product called “iPhone” or “iPod”, they absolutely can bring out a product called, say, “iLaptop”. And that’s what people did for all kinds of products, hoping that people would buy them, mistakenly thinking they were Apple products.
So Apple abandoned it as branding on everything that wasn’t already well-known for that branding.
Your point is right in spirit, but wrong on that one specific point.
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except this existed before copilot
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Big Brother is watching you. To sell you ads.
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And train AI
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He sees through flesh and rock. He is straining on human kind.
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Avoid all this with W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
massgrave.dev
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Windows IoT can have compatibility issues with software because they're not the latest version of Windows (think Debian vs. Arch, but without Debian being the presumed default). Also you can't get a license for it legally.
This is all stuff I've heard second-hand, but it turned me off Windows IoT. So now I main Linux and have Windows 10 on my old Laptop (AND FFS WINDOWS STOP CHANGING MY FIREWALL SETTINGS).
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My version numbers on 11 IoT seem to be bleeding edge for core fuctioning. It's PERFECT for PC gaming, honestly. No Xbox, no gamebar, no AI, no shit getting installed after new updates.
The no license legally is why I linked massgrave. Permanent hardware activation. If they wont sell the license for the only good current Windows, then fuck them.
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I've used windows 11 ltsc with games including ones that use anticheat like Finals and didn't run into compatibility issues yet.
Feels like normal Windows experience except no copilot, no Microsoft store, no ads, no preinstalled tiktok/messenger. Just a regular clean Windows install without the need to run debloating scripts. All the ai updates that keep being pushed on regular Windows like paint and notepad aren't present. Its just normal old paint and normal boring notes.
Its an experience closer to Windows 7 era before online accounts were integrated into the OS and nagging people to login.
Of course Linux is the better option.
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ltsc is fine but i have some issues with it:
1.App support will be like windows 10,fine for legacy or apps that dont get alot of updates but bad for newer apps (on windows 10 ltsc iot)
2.Your using a version of Windows that isnt designed to be used on a home pc
3. you cannot install microsoft store apps without workarounds,only exes from random websites(should be fine for most people ngl)
tho i do use it but mainly only for flashing roms.
your better off using a Linux distro open source,better in the long run and will support more only Windows apps(that dont need deep windows dependencies) with wine aswell as those windows apps having a native Linux version.
and Linux has better privacy on most distros.-
- It is still a fully fledged x86-64 Windows. You can install literally any program designed to work on Windows, legacy or not.
- It is still Windows, only they have stripped out everything non essential for reliability for high uptime, think ATM machines. This would be like saying Gentoo or Arch isn't designed to be used on home PCs.
- You can install the MS App Store and Xbox app, and others should you want to. It just doesn't come with them. I have switched all my friends to this Windows and half of them use it with Xbox Games Pass, and one like the ease of getting everything from the MS App Store.
- The common person might not want to use Linux for any number of reasons. This is as good as it can get for those who do not want to switch. Not wanting to switch is fine, and shouldn't be shamed.
- For privacy since it's an Enterprise version, you can disable all built in telemetry. It just takes some entries in things like group policy and registry editor.
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Big BrotherCopilot is watching you -
Is there a way to disable this? I still need to use Windows sometimes
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I think if you uninstall the xbox app gaming copilot goes away. Might just be for the ltsc version though, which comes with a regular game bar and no Xbox app and only gets that ability from the Xbox app.
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I am once again asking you to go to https://massgrave.dev/windows10_eol and use the instructions to switch your windows install to windows 10 enterprise 21h2 iot ltsc so your computer will receive security updates until the year 2032.
Gaming copilot is a windows 11 feature iirc and the game bar, start menu ads and a bunch of other stuff aren’t present on 21h2 iot ltsc.
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I used WinUtil and PolicyPlus to hopefully get rid of all that BS (at least until the next update...).
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Considering it shows on the capture widget, probably Settings -> Gaming -> Capture.
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And then 9/10 they would probably train that footage on AI.
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Not 9/10. They literally say in the article they will use the collected data to train their AI.
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ofc
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Reposting from my comment https://lemmy.world/post/37758804/20109240 which I recommend to check, as someone did a test with Dark Souls 1 and IMHO was unsurprisingly disappointing, namely it does recognize the game (honestly, not bad) and get the right boss (which name is literally on screen) and make kind of sometimes useful suggestions. But like... what's the point? Who would play a game and... NOT know its name? Or not be able to search based on a boss name or a weapon name with existing dedicated good online guides?
Anyway... if you still want to try yourself WITHOUT relying on Microsoft consider :
"If someone somehow wants to test this locally I suggest
- install locally a vision model, e.g. Moondream (which Ollama supports but alternatives too), then
- take a screenshot of your game,
- write a prompt like "How can I play this game better"
- query the vision model with the image and your prompt
marvel at how pointless and costly the whole setup is and how a basic query on e.g. DuckDuckGo with "game name" + prompt would yield way WAY better results from actual human, uninstall the whole, keep on playing with your actual brain.
At least now you can say you tried before you complain, rightfully, that it sucks.
For more check https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/SelfHostingArtificialIntelligence
PS: I didn't actually try this, I'm too lazy for that right how but feel free to report back if you do!
Edit : 2 potential optimization (despite not being sure it ever makes sense in the first place!)
- do so automatically, e.g. ~/gaming_screenshots directory (via e.g.
Spectacleshortcut) monitored viainotifythennotify-sendthe suggestion, thus stay in game during the whole process - fine tune on specific visual datasets, e.g. rely on fextra as mentioned in https://lemmy.world/post/37758804/20113877
" and again feel free to share back results.
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I don't think the point is to be useful, but more to collect data on how you play and how to play.
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If there was no user interaction needed I'd agree but here, AFAICT, the user still needs to ask. If it's truly entirely pointless then once the novelty fades away it won't be used which deprived of precious data points, namely user feedback. For non interactive use I imagine streaming provides already a lot.
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Someone should create CoPirate for Linux, that saves a DRM-free local copy of everyone else's data that goes through your machine. For training purposes, of course.
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Le illuminati
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I know many will tell you to move to linux, and they are right, but if for some reason you can not then use the O&O ShutUp10++: Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11 and enable blocks for Copilot Cortana and many other shit.
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