Privacy @lemmy.dbzer0.com happeningtofry99158 @lemmy.world 3d ago

Could Windows and installed apps upload all my personal files?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31889457

Please see the cross-post as it is updated.

Could Windows and installed apps upload all my personal files?

Dear all

I have deleted Onedrive and disabled File system access in Privacy.

I would like to know, which other ways that my personal files could be uploaded in a non-malicious non-hacker way?

Just by using Windows, Microsoft could upload all my personal files to themselves if they would?

Does every installed App / software have full access to my whole drive? How can I found out, how much access it has?

Thank you for your interest and reply

Best regards

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31889457

Please see the cross-post as it is updated.

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4 comments

I'm no Windows expert, but basically yes, especially if the program has administrator access. There's no file security on Windows, and basically anything you install can grab files, unless they are in a "protected" folder like System32 or Program Files. Then the program needs to be elevated to Administrator to access those files.

My solution to this would be a program called Simplewall which blocks internet access to applications of your choosing. This isn't a comprehensive security solution, but it does protect against basic data harvesting by apps & programs.

Microsoft is a harder problem though. They are constantly bypassing measures I have tried to combat telemetry, and as the makers of the OS itself it's gonna be pretty hard to be 100% protected from them, especially seeing that Windows is proprietary. They can theoretically do whatever they want if they hide it well enough. If this is a problem might as well use Linux because Windows is only getting worse with privacy concerns every day
- is software sandbox and segmentation more supported on linux?
  
  Yes, linux also has an administrator-like system called root, but it actually protects important system files unlike Windows administrator access which is frequrntly bypassed. Many important linux packages also respect and don't even ask for root access unless explicitly needed. This is by design. You can also use programs called flatpaks from Flathub which come sandboxed from the start, and also a program called Flatseal to fine-tune permissions from every flatpak
  
  thanks a lot