Posted on 11/29/2017 10:00:41 AM PST by blam
On the heels of Lenovos massive $3.5 million fine for preinstalling adware on laptops without users consent, Hewlett-Packard is jumping in with both feet when it comes to installing spyware on its PCs without the consumers permission.
According to numerous reports gathered by Computer World, the brand is deploying a telemetry client (a system data that is uploaded by the Connected User Experience and Telemetry component), on customer computers without asking permission.
The software, which was first identified on November 15 of this year, is called HP Touchpoint Analytics Service and appears to replace the self-managed HP Touchpoint Manager solution. According to the official productivity description, it features the tools you need to ensure all your managed devices security and brings you greater peace of mind. The problem is, its installing itself without permission and is wreaking havoc on customers systems.
And the consumers are noticing:
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfplan.com ...
Blu
HP is spying on you should you happen to print out any posters that say, “It is OK to be white”.
We’re all being stalked.
I’ve done it both ways. When I am serious, I pull the drive and plug it in to an external Thermaltake SATA caddy, and wipe it from another system. Long format always.
What Tom Servo said.
I keep an external hard drive loaded with all programs and drivers needed to operate. I make an image with macrium (or easeus) and also put that on the external hard drive. I then use a small dedicated USB thumbdrive for starting the computer (since your hard drive drive is occupied for a reimage.
You do not own the software that is on your hard drive, unless you wrote the whole OS yourself.
You only buy a license to use a product that someone else created, owns, and maintains.
This includes MS, Mac, and Android operating systems.
As a user, and not an owner, you have no reasonable right to privacy involving the use of an operating system, software application, firmware, or communications networks that you did not create and maintain yourself.
If you don’t like the terms of their agreements, then create your own software, hardware, and encrypted communications systems.
Read the EULA sometime.
I really, really dislike my HP printer. I would go back to Lexmark in a heartbeat. Of course, manybe now Lexmark is not good but I am staying away from HP printers. Half the time, the printer goes off line, other times, it will not print at all.
I’m going to let MS do it.
I’m not as cynical as you yet (a compliment), but I’m getting there.
Thanks for the ping.
Just checked services.msc and sure enough, there it is.
The HP analytics is set for delayed autostart, so I fixed that as well.
Or use UNIX or Linux.
Hard to say.
I manage about 100pcs among other things and the first thing I do or have one of my minions do is to uninstall ALL the bloatware that comes on any brand name computer winds up in my facility.
The latest HPs I've seen have like 20 little craplets that all run and I'm quite sure they are scarfing up data and reporting it back to the mothership. I don't even allow the network cord to be plugged in before all that stuff is scrubbed off a machine. I prefer fresh installs but sometimes I get bargain machines that are too cheap to pass up.
My advice to you is to uninstall everything HP except the printer driver if you have an HP printer. Even then, uninstall the "suite" and just run the bare driver. If it's an inkjet The printer will stop working if the ink levels get low and all the laser printers have toner levels on the display.
Bkmk
DIE, CORPORATE SCUM!
PING!
Me too.
I have clients who call/text me about how their printers no longer work.
It’s ALWAYS a HP printer.
Setting up a new MacBook Pro for my Wife to replace her current HP with W10.
Have Parallels and Windows 7 Pro installed and set for coherence mode.
I’ve been using a set-up like this since 2012 and love it. Solid, stable and no forced updates.
Using it on Linux gets around all that stuff.
Yeah. It's amazing how one little print driver can talk with just about any printer on the planet with Linux, but you need the driver and 5 'support programs' with MS-Windows.
“I stopped buying HP printers over 15 years ago because they came packaged with all sorts of software to run on PCs”
About 15 years ago when I ordered supplies for my office, I got a good deal on HP printer cartridges, so ordered a bunch. A few months later someone inserted a new one and it wouldn’t work. It had been programmed to not function if installed after the expiration date. So we had about 20 unusable cartridges just sitting there.
I decided to turn back the calendar in my PC to an earlier date to see if it would install. It installed fine with the new/old date, and then I just changed it back. Anyhow, my good opinion of HP took a dive then. It seemed like a scheme to force people to buy all new stuff.
check your control panel and look to the list of programs to uninstall; mine was installed without my knowledge or agreement on 21 Nov.
Did you just go to Services and disable them?
My HP computer is almost ten years old (bought used), and my laser printer, more than 15 years old. They run like lightning on either Linux or *BSD. Easy to use for business or design with free software, and everything works fine.
Thanks. It’s quite noticeable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.