SmartScreen filter

[Metspitzer]

Good or bad?

 

[Paul]

Good or bad?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/SmartScreen-Filter-frequently-asked-questions-IE9

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...windows-internet-explorer-9-privacy-statement

"SmartScreen Filter

SmartScreen Filter is designed to help warn you about unsafe websites that
are impersonating trusted websites (phishing) or contain threats to your
computer. If you opt in to SmartScreen Filter, it first checks the address
of the webpage you are visiting against a list of high-traffic webpage
addresses stored on your computer that are believed by Microsoft to be
legitimate. Addresses that are not on the local list and the addresses
of files you are downloading will be sent to Microsoft and checked against
a frequently updated list of webpages and downloads that have been reported
to Microsoft as unsafe or suspicious. You may also choose to use SmartScreen
Filter manually to verify individual sites with Microsoft. Additionally, if
you download or run a program from the Internet, SmartScreen will check the
program against a list of commonly downloaded and known unsafe programs to
help protect you from running unsafe programs.

When you use SmartScreen Filter to check websites automatically or manually,
the address of the website you are visiting will be sent to Microsoft, together
with standard computer information and the SmartScreen Filter version number.
To help protect your privacy, the information sent to Microsoft is encrypted.
Information that may be associated with the address, such as search terms or
data you entered in forms might be included. For example, if you visited the
Microsoft.com search website at http://search.microsoft.com and entered
"Seattle" as the search term, the full address

http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=Seattle&qsc0=0&FORM=QBMH1&mkt=en-US

will be sent. Address strings might unintentionally contain personal information,
but this information, like the other information sent, is not used to identify,
contact, or target advertising to you. In addition, Microsoft filters address
strings to try to remove personal information where possible. When you use
Internet Explorer to download a program, SmartScreen Filter will send the
information above, along with information about the downloaded program, such
as a file identifier (a "hash"), results from installed antivirus tools, and
the program’s digital certificate information, if available.

Periodically, information about your usage of SmartScreen Filter will also be
sent to Microsoft, such as the time and total number of websites browsed since
an address was sent to Microsoft for analysis. Some information about files that
you download from the web, such as name and file path, may also be sent to
Microsoft. Some website addresses that are sent to Microsoft may be stored along
with additional information, including web browser version, operating system
version, SmartScreen Filter version, the browser language, the referring webpage,
and information about whether Compatibility View was enabled for the website. A
unique identifier generated by Internet Explorer is also sent. The unique
identifier is a randomly generated number that does not contain any personal
information and is not used to identify you. This information, along with the
information described above, is only used to analyze performance and improve
the quality of our products and services.
"

Um, yeah, that sounds safe enough.

So basically an entire transcript of your web surfing habits are sent to Microsoft.

And encrypted, so you can't see what's leaving the machine. Cool. For my protection

Paul

 

[Ken Springer]

Or, you could use a different browser.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 10.0.2
Thunderbird 10.0.2
LibreOffice 3.5.0 rc3

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Or, you could use a different browser.

Are you suggesting being unfaithful to Internet Explorer? For shame!

I do keep a copy of IE around for those occasions when Firefox
(including the IEtab plugin) seems unhappy with a site. I also have
Safari and Chrome available for similar reasons.

 

[Ken Springer]

Are you suggesting being unfaithful to Internet Explorer? For shame!

I do keep a copy of IE around for those occasions when Firefox
(including the IEtab plugin) seems unhappy with a site. I also have
Safari and Chrome available for similar reasons.

How can you be unfaithful when you've never been faithful?


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 10.0.2
Thunderbird 10.0.2
LibreOffice 3.5.0 rc3

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

How can you be unfaithful when you've never been faithful?

Lay off those existential conundrums, please

Faithlessly yours,
Gino

I should have admitted that sometimes the other browsers are no help
when my usual one (FF) has a problem.

One example (a long story): I have a cheap Logitech Harmony 300 remote
control. You program it by logging in to your account at Logitech, but
in both FF and IE, the login screen I get is a completely blank white
page. If I try in either Chrome or Safari, I get the message that under
Windows 7 (my version), the program requires a version of FF greater
than something or a version of IE greater than something else. I forgot
the numbers, but both of my browsers exceed them.

Among the suggestions from Logitech Tech support are to log in under a
special account they sent me, although my problem is that the login
screen is a blank white sheet

They lost a sale of a more advanced remote.

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

Good or bad?

Good for you, bad for me.