New Windows 10 build kills controversial password-sharing Wi-Fi Sense
May 14, 2016 – 7:27 AMWhen Microsoft announced Windows 10, it added a feature called Wi-Fi Sense that had previously debuted on the Windows Phone operating system. Wi-Fi Sense was a password-sharing option that allowed you to share Wi-Fi passwords with your friends and contacts in Skype, Outlook, and Facebook. Here’s how Microsoft described the feature last year:
“When you share Wi-Fi network access with Facebook friends, Outlook.com contacts, or Skype contacts, they’ll be connected to the password-protected Wi-Fi networks that you choose to share and get Internet access when they’re in range of the networks (if they use Wi-Fi Sense). Likewise, you’ll be connected to Wi-Fi networks that they share for Internet access too. Remember, you don’t get to see Wi-Fi network passwords, and you both get Internet access only. They won’t have access to other computers, devices, or files stored on your home network, and you won’t have access to these things on their network.”
There were security concerns related to Windows 10’s management of passwords and whether or not said passwords could be intercepted on the fly. To our knowledge, no security breaches or problems were associated with Wi-Fi Sense. According to Microsoft, few people actually used the feature and some were actively turning it off. “The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment,” said Gabe Aul, Microsoft’s Windows Insider czar.
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