Microsoft Attempts to Assuage Windows 10 Privacy Concerns

Controversy started when it was discovered that Windows 10 had a bunch of telemetry services that automatically run in the background and can not be easily switched off.

“One of the most significant things we removed from Basic is application usage data”, the Microsoft representative said in a statement.

As such, this moves the Windows 10 privacy settings from a model of tacit consent-most people pick Express settings because it’s an easy default, without really considering what the implications are-to explicit affirmation.

Microsoft’s new “privacy dashboard“.

The Creators Update for Windows 10 is the operating system’s latest major release, following the Anniversary Update launched in August 2016. In the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft will make its data-collection and privacy policies simpler, according to a blog post from Windows and devices head Terry Myerson.

“We want you to be informed about and in control of your data, which is why we’re working hard on these settings and controls”, Myerson wrote.

You can visit the Microsoft Account page, sign in and use the Privacy dashboard now and the vendor is planning to add more features to it in the future.

Windows 10’s notoriously irritating forced updates should soon be relegated to history, thanks to a new feature now being previewed in the latest Windows 10 Insider Build.

Information includes the impact of turning off a privacy setting.

Windows 10 users who have already chosen privacy settings will get prompted again with the release of the Windows 10 creators update. The Windows version will follow the same system using local sunrise and sunset schedules to reduce blue light. Wondering what kind of data you’ll be able to keep an eye on?

Microsoft has also fixed a number of bugs which were reported by insiders in the previous build.

Microsoft’s new privacy dashboard isn’t entirely new.

The next change is a more simplified diagnostic data collection process.

Whichever of the two you choose, Microsoft is insistent that it won’t be checking through your email, chat, files, or pictures in order to target advertising. Microsoft also claims that it doesn’t share the personal data of its customers with third parties “except at the customer’s discretion or for the limited purposes described in the Privacy Statement“.

Of course, we knew the hiatus was coming but what we did not know, unless of course you paid attention over the holidays and a certain leaked build (14997), was the plethora of features this new build would bring to testers.