Intel Graphics Drivers Now Collect Telemetry By Default

[Karel]

A data collection component that tracks your PC usage and performance in the background (not just that of the GPU),
so Intel can use the data to improve its future products.

https://www.techpowerup.com/312122/psa-intel-graphics-drivers-now-collect-telemetry-by-default

 

[rdl]

Hasn't Nvidia been doing something similar for years now?

[rdl]

I checked on my gaming computer and there's quite a few files in the Nvidia folders containing the word "telemetry" in the name. I probably ought to just remove them or cut them off from use, but they've been there for years now and I only use the computer for games, so it probably doesn't make much difference now.

[SiliconWizard]

If you're using Windows a crapton of telemetry is being collected already, in comparison what Intel does is insignificant.

That said, still concerning and a general trend which is plaguing even open-source software now. (Sure with OSS you still have the opportunity to know exactly what is being collected, and - usually - have a way of opting out though.)

[50ShadesOfDirt]

The two options I can think of are:

1. research the issue, and see how to turn off intel graphics driver "telemetry". such instructions also exist for nvidia. haven't looked into amd graphics drivers. usually, in the game of war, one side turns on telemetry, and another side figures out how to turn it off. Just about every update or new version of some software now has a form of telemetry in it; sometimes the update "turns the telemetry" back on, even if you do turn it off.

2. install anybody's free firewall software that explicitly blocks outgoing comms (from telemetry), and has the "learning" feature that both blocks outgoing comms and tells you about each occurance, giving you the opportunity to allow/disallow it. This generally catches all outgoing telemetry, and once you've been made aware of it, you can block it.

The latter item protects you from everyone's telemetry, as it is a challenge to figure out whether telemetry has been turned on in a recent version or update of some piece of software, and you are now up to 10's or 100's of software packages on your given pc or OS build.

Hope this helps ...

[twospoons]

It would be a lot more fun to hijack the telemetry data channels and flood them with bogus data, rendering them useless and chewing up resources at the other end.