What about the Intel ME? Is that on the Atom processor this uses? I only know of a few processors, mostly ARM, that don't contain this kind of insecure/privacy-invading feature.
What if I want to be the product? I could pay for Visual Studio Enterprise/Ultimate or whatever, or just accept that my usage is being tracked by MS. As long as they aren't being so egregious as to send the contents of my files, or sending over an unencrypted connection, I don't see why the makers of the product, offering it for free, can't track basic data.
It's just hard to get the filesystem entries for the file back. rm doesn't specifically wipe, you're right, but the filesystem entries are deleted, which means you basically have to grep the disk for bits of the file you want with known contents.
It sucks that we live in a world where people decide whether to translate a game into a language, making it accessible for a country, based on how many people from that country will steal it.
Not if they think you're mentally unstable enough to warrant them administering treatment, regardless if that treatment ends up being necessary or not.