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MICROSOFT MAY HAVE seen more than 75 million people download the latest version of Windows, but privacy concerns have surrounded it since its launch.
Factors like default settings sending information to Microsoft servers, concern over WiFi Sense, a way to share WiFi connections with other users without sharing your password, and forced automatic updates for Home users.
While these fears aren’t as bad as some may make them out to be, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the initiative when it comes to privacy.
(If you haven’t installed Windows 10 yet, it’s recommended you go through the custom settings during setup instead of opting for express)
Checking your privacy features
If you went for express settings instead of custom when setting up Windows 10, the good news is you can revisit your privacy settings and make the necessary adjustments.
Simply go into Start > Settings (found in the lower left-hand side) and look for the privacy section.
Here, you have access to a number of different settings and they are:
General: As the name suggests, this is where you can change the more general privacy settings.
All of them are on by default and include things like Advertising ID (an anonymous tag which provides you with targeted ads), and SmartScreen Filter (checks web links before you click on them). Some like SmartScreen do have a use so it’s up to you what to allow.
The bottom has a link to Microsoft’s personalised ads page where you can change ad personalisation settings. It’s recommended you take a look through this while you’re here.
Location: Really to do with those using a laptop or tablet, this allows apps and services to access your location and saves your history.
Camera: Another straightforward section where you choose which apps or services have access to your webcam/camera.
Microphone/Account info/Contacts/Calendar/Messaging/Radios: These sections are really the same as Camera and Location (Radio refers to services like Bluetooth and NFC), allows you to grant/revoke access to individual apps and services.
Just remember that turning off settings for any of the apps included in these lists may limit their functionality.
Speech, inking and typing: This is initially related to Cortana, which isn’t available in Ireland yet, but it’s worth looking at it now.
Here you decide how much of your info it has access to (contacts, speech, typing history and inking if you use a stylus) when it arrives, and turning it off means it can’t personalise itself to suit your needs.
Other devices: This gives your apps permission to share info with other wireless devices that don’t connect to your PC/tablet like an Xbox One, or TV.
Feedback: Here you can decide how often you want Microsoft to ask for automatic feedback.
The options are ‘automatically’ (the default option), ‘once a day’, ‘once a week’, ‘always’ and ‘never’. You can also control the amount of information it receives about your device.
WiFi Sense
This isn’t found under privacy, instead it’s found under Network and Internet, but when you go into WiFi (the first option), you will see ‘Manage WiFi settings’ underneath.
Clicking on it brings you to WiFi Sense which allows you to share WiFi connections with your contacts and vice versa. You can turn off these settings here.
If you’re connected up via Ethernet cable alone, this option won’t be available.
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Downloaded 10 but haven’t installed it yet…..was waiting for something like this….but will give it one more month before installing and see what the feed back is like by then.
Same Windows ten Updates have come down for 7 and 8. Your data is being sent up and bypasses any host file changes..
Thank you for the heads up Eileen! +1
If you care about Privacy.. dont upgrade to Windows 10… it’s “free” for a reason!
Those are just click bait headlines. It’s to do with diagnostic crash data so MS can find and fix problems faster. Nothing to do with privacy.
So host files being bypassed is click bait Simon? Where is the opt out button?
As MS have shown since 8, is that they want you to use an online profile which can be used for data mining…
“Windows users who don’t want to be part of the collection program should have a clear and straightforward way to opt out, which doesn’t appear to exist at the moment. Attempts to contact Microsoft about this issue have not yet elicited a response.”
Why opt out of anonymous crash data to help solve problems? Trying to associate it with privacy makes no sense.
Nope definitely not. Microsoft is a business, they need to make money by gathering data. If you think all they send up is ‘crash data’ then why would you be required to give these Microsoft permanent access to these services? I personally couldn’t give a bollox, MS can have all they want from me, but you are deluded if you think all they want is ‘crash data’
I suggest all those worried about privacy should practice good data hygiene…
Telemetry features like that should always have the option of being turned off. In the end the user should be in the driver’s seat as far as what data gets sent where and shouldn’t just have to blindly trust the vendor that it’s something they shouldn’t care about. The fact that even going to the host file to try to hack your way around this design would be fairly shocking if it came from anyone other than Microsoft.
Downloaded Windows 10 but wasn’t happy with performance & it has even no Menu bar on screen which left me confused. Now delete it & back to Windows 8. However Windows 10 ads appears on screen daily demanding to be resumed to screen & it’s like harassment. Unbelievable. Be beware!
Microsoft have gone one further.
The newest updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 introduce the same snooping that they put into Windows 10.
There aren’t privacy concerns with those. It’s crash data to fix problems faster as opposed to any personal data.
I just upgraded to windows 10 and now the computer won’t even start
Cheers Quentin great article, I’ve been using 10 a couple of weeks now. Most of my problems were with my printer. 10 doesn’t seem to co operate(originally an 8 PC) very well on downloaded drivers and software. When I found my printer disc they were grand. A little bit hit and miss but got them going. Funny enough my 10 year old Vaio updated without any issues( same printer)
I’m looking forward to some updates to the edge browser, I still have to use chrome or even IE for some things. It’ll probably slow down when it is updated.
Does anyone know if installing 10 gets rid of previously installed Internet security? I can seem to find mine since I updated.
The opt out doesn’t work, according to some tech obsessed friends of mine. Your data is still sent. Windows 10 even takes screenshots of folders and files on your PC.
I have nothing to hide, but f*ck that.
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