Your data is YOUR data. Not Microsoft’s or anyone else’s property…
I have always disliked Microsoft OneDrive.
I never knew why until recently. It was just an instinctive thing…And my instincts are usually right on the money. My thoughts, opinions, and experiences with OneDrive and Windows follow.
Storing my data on my local hard drive and simply TRUSTING that it would be safe was just a part of the social contract with big business and massive IT organizations. Having that data stored by default in the cloud was a concept that I just never felt good about.
There was one feature with OneDrive I really didn’t like. One Drive was installed without permission by default on Windows 10 and 11. On Windows 10, the program can be completely removed by going into SETTINGS, selecting “add or remove programs,” and getting rid of it that way. But for Microsoft to insert this program into my OS and keep pushing it was something I had put up with until I looked up one day on Windows 11, and suddenly, all my data was being stored on the cloud without my permission!
Luckily for me, I had Windows 11 on only one laptop. Note the emphasis on HAD. It all began when I was writing an article and went to save my writing locally as usual, and suddenly, I got a pop-up about my data being stored on the cloud. WTF?
This was when I realized the latest update to Windows 11 had changed the contract and assumptions about my data being stored by default on my own PC! Microsoft seems to have made this change without anyone’s consent and assumed everyone would go along with it! Of course, the notice is buried somewhere in the Terms of Service. Still, one cannot help but recall the scene in “Restaurant at the End of the Universe” with the Vogons posting a notice to Earthlings that they are destroying the Earth because it is in the way. Of course, a notice was posted in a place no Earthling could or would ever read the notice. It wasn’t THEIR fault or Microsoft’s, that no one really understood what they were doing until it was too late.
So… I was left with a quandary. Should I remove the offending OneDrive or give up on Windows? I knew instantly that a new game was afoot and to engage in a Harry Potter moment, knowing this would become a war between me and the unseen geeks at Microsoft. My optimism was not high, but I knew I had the ultimate power in the end. And thus, my quest for privacy began.
Microsoft has gotten too big for it’s britches.
I tried to remove OneDrive from Windows 11 or to limit its intrusive behavior, but I found that it was now deeply embedded into the OS and that all the old tricks for removing it had been summarily disabled. They were doubling down on our data being on THEIR cloud!
Another huge issue is the fact that Microsoft assumed we would want our data on their cloud. So much so that they offer a back up feature to back up local data to the cloud, except users are now reporting that local data is being deleted unexpectedly when users accept the “back up” solution! An example is the following from Reddit:
“Something happened last week and it (OneDrive) asked me if I wanted to “back up” my files. I said “Yes”. I did not have My Documents synced, on purpose, but a backup sounded great.
Well, it proceeded to delete 40 GB of data from my local computer, and made me rediscover religion during the two full days it took for it to sync. It uploaded everything to the cloud. I am so angry. It lied to my face. That’s not a backup. Of course, lesson learned thanks to Google after the fact.
Also, just thinking about having to manually download everything locally (I ain’t touching that sync whatever ever again) makes me wanna cry, I don’t have time for this.”
Between unauthorized data deletion and increased synchronization traffic to load data to and from the Cloud, one wonders who thought up this scheme and if they reasoned out all the gotchas ahead of time?
Apparently not.
Choosing an operating system that works for you is a lot like Harry Potter choosing his wand in “The Sourcer’s Stone,” And the conditions under which you chose that operating system and how well it matches your needs is subject to change at any time. A fact that those at Microsoft and many other operating system manufacturers forget when they think they’ve got you held hostage.
My Harry Potter moment came to an end. I saw the evil of Voldemort in their nefarious plan. They were committing to eliminate local storage of data by default! The sheer audaciousness was spectacular to witness.
Worse yet, they are doing this to begin using storage as a profit center, with your local storage being an afterthought. They see PCs and data as THEIRS! The horror stories of their OneDrive updates breaking all user preferences and automatically loading ALL user data to their cloud are easy to find. Between them putting their hand out for charges to store your data and the unmitigated gall of ransoming your data for their own purposes, not to mention the legal quagmire of refusing to acknowledge data as personal property, I began to wonder if there was a more nefarious reason for this.
Clearly, having your data in their possession opens up all sorts of Constitutional issues, not the least of which would be Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights. That amendment is clear and unambiguous:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things.”
Of course, Microsoft will declare it is a private entity and not bound to the rules that bind the government from directly doing this with our data. Given the government’s behavior in the last three years of the Biden administration, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to see a lot of underhanded three-letter agency fingers in this pie. Of course, the government will look at your data once it is in the cloud. This is simply a dodge to get to that data.
Microsoft’s Terms of Service likely has justified their action of defaulting data storage to the cloud in various flavors of legalese, but the intent is clear: They and those they serve want your and my data and will stop at nothing to get it.
However, I have my own Terms of Service to share with Microsoft. It is called “I can quit using your intrusive products anytime I want.“
So… I pulled out the SSD drive with Windows 11 on it and used this moment as an excuse to upgrade my laptop to a new 512 GB SSD and put Linux Mint on it. I had used Mint before and loved it. It was a no-brainer to return to using it.
The effect was instant. No more OneDrive, and I was free to store my files locally. Almost all of my apps work seamlessly or nearly seamlessly on Mint. A Windows emulator called Wine allows many Windows programs to run in Linux as well. The few downsides to the move to Linux Mint were outweighed by the massive gains in privacy and the unique benefits of Linux.
This is what Microsoft has failed to recognize. There are other options for us, and we push back with every pervasive intrusion into our private lives. They believe we won’t be leaving en-masse. Unfortunately, most people won’t, unless it becomes so onerous to use their products that people can’t afford to use them.
We can move to Mac OS, Linux, and, oddly enough, old versions of Windows to break away from being spied on at every turn. And a lot of people are going to walk away from Microsoft over breaking the contract with its users. Our data is ours. Period.
For those who have Windows 10 installed, OneDrive is easy to remove, but you may want to stop Microsoft from trying to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 automatically.
To stop this, there are ways to inhibit this intrusive upgrade that many have had literally forced down their throats. See the article Keep Windows 10 from Updating to Windows 11 (5 Ways) to stop the upgrade from happening. I chose to use the 3rd option. This article relates to updating the registry to prevent upgrades from happening without my consent. I am comfortable with such operations, but you may not be. Study the article and decide the options best for your needs, or consult an expert to help you. Remember, you are responsible for changes to your own system. Tread carefully when making such changes. If you are uncomfortable with such things, have an expert assist you.
I would recommend backing up your system drive to ensure you have the OS fully stored away in case your Windows 10 OS is upgraded by Microsoft somehow. Having the means to restore your OS to what YOU want is critical. At a minimum, having your product key printed out for you to use for restoring Windows 10 and reinstalling everything is the minimum for getting your data back. To do so, open the command prompt and paste the following:
wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
Print the display out and store it in a safe location. Be sure to have a copy of Windows 10 that you can install to recover your system. Know what version of Windows you have installed so you install the correct version.
Ultimately, Microsoft will phase out Windows 10 support in October 2025 and try to force everyone to head over to Windows 11. I plan on a tectonic shift in my systems setups before then and will cover my changes in future articles. I will say this… Virtual systems and a much more significant Linux presence are in my future. Inhibiting Big Tech’s reach into our lives is the war of the ages. We cannot allow our data to fall into the hands of the data oligarchs.
Remember, it is your data, not Microsoft’s or Google’s. Take control and protect it. I’ll be releasing a monthly column on data security, highlighting the ongoing battle to keep your data under your control. This will be a regular feature on this site, and I may even move to a new platform to further emphasize my concerns with data security, Internet issues, and operating system discussions in the future.
Until next time…
Jon