Edit: Apparantly I should read more carefully

[sysiphus]

EDIT: Sounds like I should have read more carefully; thanks to those below for clearing this up. I'll leave the original post content below for posterity.


http://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/le ... nes-743952

According to the above, Lenovo is at it again, this time being stupid enough to throw their ThinkPads into the mix. According to the associated Reddit thread, it's being injected at the BIOS level--the software is showing up even on clean installs. I can't verify this, having sold my last ThinkPad years ago, but if it's true/accurate, it's difficult to imagine why anyone would buy from them again. Thoughts?


(Link to comment from Reddit thread, for what it's worth: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/com ... ts/cvcl5d4 )

[Dekks]

Nothing to do with the bios, your clearly confused over the latest missteps by lenovo. Although not as serious as Superfish and the misuse of the MS BIOS security feature, it begs the question that Lenovo don't get privacy.

Would i buy one in the future, probably but i usually install Linux so most of the issues are moot for me.

[sysiphus]

Nothing to do with the bios, your clearly confused over the latest missteps by lenovo. Although not as serious as Superfish and the misuse of the MS BIOS security feature, it begs the question that Lenovo don't get privacy.

Would i buy one in the future, probably but i usually install Linux so most of the issues are moot for me.

Edit: sounds like I got this one wrong.

[Ibthink]

Big misuse of the "spyware" attribute. Have you read the support article regarding that matter that's online for nearly a year now? https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht102023

To summarize what this software does, its automatically sends usage data to Lenovo every day. What usage data? Only usage data concerning Lenovo`s own software packages (like system update, Lenovo Settings etc.), and only if the user allows this data to be collected.

This is a very normal practice for many programs and software packages, as it is a way to get needed feedback for the development of the programs. Nobodys privacy is affected by it in any way.

As I said in a different forum, a typical case of cheap media sensationalism, seeing how Lenovo had some very serious security blunders earlier this year on non-ThinkPads.

And no, this software is not installed via BIOS. I don`t know where this comes from, but installing software in this way is forbidden by Microsoft since the last time Lenovo did it.

[Puppy]

The ability to understand and explain technical aspects is going down every year The same story like Windows 10 telemetry data.

[sysiphus]

Well, if I got it wrong, mea culpa. Thanks for the comments, folks.

[Ibthink]

@puppy,
That's indeed true...the quality of tech-media reports has gone down in the last years in many cases as well, with some small exceptions (like Arstechnica, or Notebookcheck for example when it comes to notebooks).

Well, if I got it wrong, mea culpa. Thanks for the comments, folks.

No problem...with the media doing its best to non-inform people, its no wonder.

[Puppy]

On the same topic. It is a rumor yet. Sierra Wireless EM 7345 WWAN modules (made by Sierra Wireless specifically for Lenovo) are supposed to contain Carrier IQ rootkit in firmware.

[Radioguy]

On the same topic. It is a rumor yet. Sierra Wireless EM 7345 WWAN modules (made by Sierra Wireless specifically for Lenovo) are supposed to contain Carrier IQ rootkit in firmware.

I was just looking at buying one of those today.