From Tech Republic:
Microsoft has scaled back the volume of data it collects from Windows 10 PCs by 'almost half', leading French authorities to drop their threat of a fine.
The French regulator CNIL today announced that Windows 10 is no longer in breach of the country's data protection laws, following changes to how the OS handles user privacy. Microsoft had previously faced the threat of a fine of up to €150,000 ($158,000) if Windows 10 wasn't brought into compliance with French data protection rules.
Since the notice was issued to Microsoft in July last year, Windows 10 has almost halved the volume of data it collects when the user picks the 'Basic' telemetry setting, according to a notice issued by CNIL.
Other positive changes highlighted by CNIL include Microsoft making it clearer that devices will be tied to an ID used for advertising purposes and making it easier for users to opt-out.
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While Swiss data protection and privacy regulator FDPIC also dropped its enforcement action related to Windows 10 earlier this year, Microsoft has faced questions about Windows 10 telemetry from an EU data protection body. In February, the EU's Article 29 Working Party, said it "remained concerned about the level of protection of users' personal data".
At the time of publication, a spokesperson for the Article 29 Working Party had not responded to a request for comment about whether subsequent changes to Windows 10 had addressed its concerns.The changes made weren't actually all that substantial (Paul Thurrott described them as "privacy theatre"), and since Microsoft had always maintained that all of the data it was harvesting via telemetry was essential, the simple fact that they were able to reduce mandatory data collection by half and still be collecting everything they "needed" pretty clearly reveals that their statements on data collection have always been at least 50% bullshit.
It's an open question whether CNIL's threatened penalties actually forced Microsoft to change anything, either. Microsoft had already applied for, and received, multiple extensions to CNIL's deadlines, and with the EU's Article 29 Working Party already on the case by the time the Creators Update changes came into effect, it's entirely possible that the much bigger threat of EU regulatory action was actually the determining factor behind the changes made to date.
Those EU regulators are still a potential thorn in Microsoft's side, and there's still a possibility that they'll mandate the kind of changes that Windows 7 holdouts, among others, have been calling for, but the chances of further meaningful change arising from European regulatory action appear to be dimming. It's still an open question whether consumer pressure, in the form of stagnant Windows 10 adoption rates, can still do the job, but after nearly two years of slow-to-stagnant adoption, it's looking less likely that Microsoft will respond to that pressure, either, especially since the Universal Windows Platform initiative appears to be nearly dead, anyway.
So, for the moment, nothing changes that hadn't changed already, while we wait for EU regulators to decide whether they'll also be appeased, as independent Swiss and French regulatory bodies have been already. I'll be keeping an eye on this one, but I'm less hopeful than I was a week ago.