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Windows 10 Privacy: sharing information with Microsoft


uk666

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  • Andr-Tech

Microsoft tries to improve Windows by collecting data about your PC and the way you use it. This helps the company understand how to serve its users better and identify problems people are encountering.

However, that often means inadvertently sending information you’d rather not, like memory snapshots or which apps you use the most often.

How do you control it?

Click Start > Settings > Privacy > Feedback & diagnostics. Here, you will find that, by default, Windows is set to ask you for feedback automatically and gather information about diagnostics and usage.

If you would rather not be hassled by Windows requests for feedback popping up on your computer at random, then use the dropdown menu under Windows should ask for my feedback to set this to Never.

Underneath this, there is another dropdown menu that lets you control how much diagnostic and usage data is collected by Microsoft. Unfortunately, in both the Home and Pro versions of Windows 10, it is not possible to turn this off altogether.

But if you’re concerned, you can at least limit the amount of information sent to Microsoft by selecting Basic from the list.

Windows_10_shares_information_with_Micro

So what is the Problem?

So is Windows 10 the worst privacy killer in human history? Probably not, but there are some issues, primarily:

  • Microsoft’s language on one or two settings is very vague, which means it’s hard to tell when it is and isn’t collecting data related to some settings.
  • The “Getting to Know You” setting is particularly vague and problematic.
  • All of the settings are opt-out instead of opt-in, and there are very many of them.
  • Most casual users will never even look at these settings.

However, at least Microsoft provides these toggles, which is at least a step in the right direction. lifehacke

 

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