Vanguard takes screenshots of your PC every time you play a game. Every time you play a game a function is called to screenshot your PC’s screen, in case Vanguard thinks you might have something suspicious, it screenshots your ENTIRE PC screen (all monitors).
Edit: Not trying to spread false info this was shared to me via a friend and there is other data to back up that this is real https://www.unknowncheats.me/forum/anti-cheat-bypass/634974-vanguard-taking-screenshot-pc.html
https://www.unknowncheats.me/forum/valorant/484475-vanguard-screenshots.html
It’s not really any different than any other application you run on Windows.
User level access is all that’s needed to upload the majority of your files. And we’re all trained to push yes to the admin access button all the time.
If you really want to be secure, you need to have a different OS/hard drive for your games, and not allow that OS to access your secure drive. I haven’t yet gone this far, but it’s reasonable. Lethal Company on Steam is much more of a risk than anything Riot, including Vanguard. Tarkov was enough of a risk that I wouldn’t install it at all.
In the future this is a change I might make, but Riot isn’t in the top five of reasons why.
OOTL what’s the risk of Lethal Company? The cray amounts of mods that people pull down or something else?
The mods for one, absolutely. Also it’s just a much, much smaller developer with much less oversight (even internal) and less to lose if they were caught.
And trying to sell this data for a price that would matter to Riot would make it even more likely to be caught, and maybe land someone in prison. Screenshots are not okay (and aren’t happening).
The game itself is probably fine. Most things are probably fine. The mods are absolutely more risky. And all of this is more risky than Vanguard.
Part of it is also the high profile. Part of it is the attention and pushback.
If you want real corporate spyware, check your car in your garage.
Windows is a virus itself.