Spy much? HP has become the newest big name to be dragged into a spying scandal, as a driver recently snuck through Windows Update and was installed on a number of Windows PCs.
The spyware is said to be collecting data without consent.
Worth a mention that these are claims that are not exactly proven just yet, but there is solid evidence that things started to go downhill when HP replaced its Touchpoint Manager software with a new driver called HP Touchpoint Analytics Service.
It was shipped to users via the integrated Windows Update service.
Which is to say that this controversial piece of software was automatically installed on Windows computers — without displaying so much as a prompt or asking for consent from the users before it was deployed.
That’s not too bad when the driver works as it was intended to, in good faith.
However, the problem with this piece of software is that it slows down computers, and worse yet, it reportedly collects a bunch of data from the computer and silently sends the information to the parent company.
There is a lot of noise on the official HP forums, whereby the hardware giant is yet to respond. But there are plenty of comments like the one below, as users continue to report substantial slowdowns:
“The HP Touchpoint Manager technology is now being delivered as a part of HP Device as a Service (DaaS) Analytics and Proactive Management capabilities. Therefore, HP is discontinuing the self-managed HP Touchpoint Manager solution. From helping you enforce a mobile security policy to wiping a device, HP Touchpoint Manager features the tools you need to ensure all your managed devices’ security—and brings you greater peace of mind.”
Scary stuff.
Neither HP nor Microsoft have commented on this issue, but now that things are getting out of hand, there is a solid chance that one or both may have something to say on this.
Let’s see what happens.
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