Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)

[Auric]

In Windows 7, CEIP is disabled from Change Action Center settings - Customer Experience Improvement Program settings. The Application Experience service is disabled.

However, as shown in Task Scheduler, several components remain enabled and active (those Ready have recent run times). Their Descriptions vary regarding collecting and sending/uploading data such as "If the user has opted-in" or "has / has not consented to participate in".

Application Experience
- AitAgent - Disabled
- Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser - Ready
- ProgramDataUpdater - Ready

Customer Experience Improvement Program
- Consolidator - Ready
- KernelCeipTask - Ready
- UsbCeip - Ready

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I think you forgot to pose your question? Understand -- it isn't the likely thing on which I might speak with any authority or benefit. But the thread attracted my attention. I read through your post and said to myself "So?!?"

 

[Auric]

Funny, I was going to explicitly ask if anyone else found the same but deleted that bit for brevity. Even as an FYI it may benefit someone. Also considered posting to Security instead.

I found this trying to diagnose recent outbound connection attempts to Microsoft via rundll32.exe, despite generally opting-out of everything and not having installed any updates related to Windows 10 (in fact the issue predates their availability). It is too soon since manually disabling the tasks to know if they were the cause.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Funny, I was going to explicitly ask if anyone else found the same but deleted that bit for brevity. Even as an FYI it may benefit someone. Also considered posting to Security instead.

I found this trying to diagnose recent outbound connection attempts to Microsoft via rundll32.exe, despite generally opting-out of everything and not having installed any updates related to Windows 10 (in fact the issue predates their availability). It is too soon since manually disabling the tasks to know if they were the cause.

On the positive side, I'd have an educated guess that they use the same mechanisms for Beta- release as those used in the post-release update, monitoring and troubleshooting. I had always trusted their assertion of "not collecting any personal data."

More and more, the "connectedness of internet things" has troubled me. There was a time when I embraced micro-computers -- PCs -- for processing statistical data, Box-Jenkins Time Series analysis, database applications and so forth. The architects of social media and the troubles that emerged over Facebook left me sort of disenchanted with the direction of the herd with its technology.

So I don't know whether I'd be troubled about the outbound connections you mention, or merely accepting. You seem to have a fortress mentality that exceeds even mine! :biggrin:

 

[Auric]

Just to be clear, this is Windows 7 and the reference to 10 was updates which included upgrade notifications. Also, this installation is not new (and it happened on more than one system) and so it is odd if these components became active recently despite remaining disabled in the "settings". I can only surmise it was due to an update perhaps a few months ago. But the outbound attempts should be caught by any third-party firewall (or properly configured Windows firewall) and in any case should have been noticed by others.

It would be intereresting to check an older backup to see if they were active and if so perhaps only the connection method changed and was then noticeable. And of course I would like to hear other users' findings.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Yes, it's been my experience that these tasks remain enabled despite opting out. I manually disable them.

 

[Towermax]

Yes, it's been my experience that these tasks remain enabled despite opting out. I manually disable them.

Yes, just did the same thing.

 

[Auric]

It has been long enough now to confirm the outgoing connection attempts have stopped since manually disabling these tasks (most would run every day).

I have not checked an older backup while running but did load its Software registry hive and compare. The relevant keys had not been modified since 2009 or 2010. Yet the Value for the Tasks' Triggers (which apparently include the enabled/disabled status) are different whether the currently running OS has them enabled or disabled. NirSoft RegScanner was useful for the comparison, despite it being a dead end.