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Comment by koluna | Hacker News Reader

FWIW, I just assume that any data in the "cloud" is up for grabs to the highest bidder, with any service, no matter how "privacy-oriented" they are today. Once they get enough data, it becomes too tempting to start monetizing it.

Microsoft despite its revenue volumes is not exempt from trying to diversify its revenue streams through selling whatever data they have for ads/whoever wants it.

That's a HUGE part of the reason why I refuse to use any "cloud storage" aka OneDrive or whatever they call it these days, or any of the MSFT cloud services in Windows. Bing is the first thing I disable, along with all the MSN bloatware, and it's all done through a DNS block at the top of my network stack. Never connect the OS to the Microsoft account either, because the way the company works - they are not a friend of yours and neither are they going to help you re-gain whatever semblance of privacy you're aiming for.

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Cloud storage is useful if you only ever put encrypted files there and keep the keys to yourself. Of course, that's not how they are by default.

I haven't used it personally but my understanding is that SpiderOak takes this approach by default.

> FWIW, I just assume that any data in the "cloud" is up for grabs to the highest bidder, with any service, no matter how "privacy-oriented" they are today.

Microsoft intends to turn Minecraft into snitchware that will effect players playing the game entirely on their own computers and private servers, not just those playing on rented servers (aka "the cloud".)

I know this will sound like proposing a bandaid to a bigger problem, but that should be an incentive to drop Minecraft. Stop playing the game and move on to something different.

Minecraft is not like other games. Ten years ago minecraft was a blooming platform for mods. It has been lying dormant ready for another bloom when MS finally decide to enable the tools to allow it. Dark patterns while this future is still possible is a reason for concern.

We're talking about MSFT here - what did they build in the past 5 years that did not have a dark pattern built in?

Windows nags you about Microsoft account and won't let you install without it unless you know the magic CMD incantations.

Xbox games that are physical are nothing more than a "license key" that is used to download games from the MSFT servers, so if they ever go down, your DVDs are useless.

MSN being showed in Windows under the guise of "weather" and "widgets" while they promote trash tabloid content.

Logging in with an Outlook account in Edge hooks it to sync with Edge and you have to then explicitly go and opt out.

Shoveling third-party adware into Edge in the form of "credit payments".

Blocking custom browser settings.

There's a clear history here of reverse-Midas-ing quite a few things, and I genuinely feel bad for folks that want to build a great product within that environment. But the pattern is clear - your data and usage of their products will be tracked and monetized. The only winning move is not to play.

> It has been lying dormant ready for another bloom when MS finally decide to enable the tools to allow it.

I enjoy Minecraft as much as the next schlub, but I think you're being hyperbolic. Modding is great, but I think we've seen the extent of what it's capable of. Enabling mod support on Bedrock isn't going to herald in a new golden age of gaming, it would probably just give Microsoft more of a reason to kill off their legacy platforms, which is not what anyone wants.

Java and Bedrock compliment each other. Java is simply a better pick for modding, and Bedrock is available so kids watching Minecraft videos have somewhere to spend their $7 allowances. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Microsoft made the right move here. Running the Java version on mobile was miserable, so making a pared-back, cheaper and monetized version for mobile gamers is fine as long as that development effort ultimately feeds back into the Java version (which most of the time, it does).

My family and I did that. I banned its use after the Microsoft account stupidity. Windows 10 is also the last Microsoft OS I will ever use.

I say this as a (now retired) Microsoft stack developer since 1995.

It's not a bandaid. It's retreat, and the battle line will follow you.

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