From the "It's about fucking time" file: Microsoft, openly admitting that they're feeling the heat on privacy issues, especially in the EU, have finally let us know what data they're collecting via Windows 10's telemetry system... and, presumably, via Windows 7's and 8's telemetry systems as well, since telemetry was retconned into to both older operating systems late last year.
As you might expect, there's
lots of coverage on this one; the announcement itself is
here, and well worth reading if you want all the details on Microsoft's revamped data collection policies. Important as the details of the policy itself are, though, the reaction that Microsoft are getting with this disclosure may well be just as important, if not more important, to the future of Windows 10 and Microsoft as a whole.
Microsoft's announcement is a little dry, though, and
Tom's Hardware has a pretty good summary of the changes:
Privacy concerns have plagued Windows 10 for a while. Microsoft previously encouraged you to share information when you got started with the operating system, and when the Anniversary Update debuted in August 2016, it removed the ability to easily disable the Cortana virtual assistant. You could still control what it could access--ranging from your emails and installed apps to your speech and location data--but not turn it off.
That problem remains in the Creators Update. Now, though, Microsoft requires you to set each individual setting before you get started, which means its data collection should come as less of a surprise, and the company has worked to reduce the amount of information it collects. These reductions are particularly noticeable in regard to diagnostic info, as Windows and Devices Group EVP Terry Myerson explained in the blog post:
Aside from sharing new information to inform your choices, our teams have also worked diligently since the Anniversary Update to re-assess what data is strictly necessary at the Basic level to keep Windows 10 devices up to date and secure. We looked closely at how we use this diagnostic data and strengthened our commitment to minimize data collection at the Basic level. As a result, we have reduced the number of events collected and reduced, by about half, the volume of data we collect at the Basic level.
[...] The Creators Update will also make it easier to figure out what each setting does. Why does Microsoft want you to provide your location, enable speech recognition, and let it use your data to offer "tailored experiences" and targeted ads? Right now that isn't clear, but this update will offer more details about each item and provide a "Learn more" link that lets you get even more information about how the settings affect your privacy.
This is the kind of transparency that users have been asking for ever since Windows 10 rolled out nearly a year and a half ago. If Microsoft had been willing to tell people what data they were collecting, why they were collecting it, where they were sending it, when they were sharing it, and who they were sharing it with, back before the GWX campaign descended into the depths of deceit and coercion that saw Microsoft installing Windows 10 on PCs whose users had clearly declined... well, it might have been enough.
Now, though? With Windows 7 at nearly 50% of the PC OS market, and growing in popularity, I think it's safe to say that the relationship of trust that would leave users disposed to believe Microsoft's claim here, i.e. that basic data collection was necessary to Windows 10's maintenance, has been largely eroded, especially with those users who are dug in with Windows 7 and not planning to upgrade anytime soon, if ever. Especially since data collection isn't actually necessary to maintaining a PC's OS. As
PC Gamer put it:
Savvy users would disagree that a system can't be secure without sending usage data back to Microsoft. In that regard, today's announcement isn't going to wash away the waves of criticism Microsoft faces over privacy, but at least the company is being much more transparent.
It doesn't help that Microsoft are doing this only after EU regulators demanded it, either. From
TechRadar:
As you may be aware, with the Creators Update, Microsoft has already made some big changes to Windows 10’s installation process, highlighting privacy settings more clearly, and giving the user simple sliders to turn off elements such as usage of location data or targeted ads.
[...] Despite this move, back in February, EU data protection bigwigs told Microsoft it still wasn’t doing enough with privacy, and that the company needed to clearly explain what kinds of personal data are processed, and to what end.
And this blog post is a direct reaction to that demand, as Myerson notes: “This feedback – in line with the feedback we have received from the European Union’s Article 29 Working Party and national data protection authorities that have specifically engaged us on Windows 10 – was essential for Microsoft to identify and implement improvements in our privacy practices.”
In short, Microsoft didn't do this because users demanded it; if users' feedback was the critical ingredient here, these changes would have happened at least as early as the Anniversary Update, if not sooner. No, Microsoft did this because EU regulators forced them to. Kudos to them for finally making these obviously necessary changes, but this isn't some sort of principled stance on users' privacy; if it was, Microsoft would be allowing users to turn the data collection off completely.
"The Windows 10 Creators Update is a significant step forward, but by no means the end of our journey.” [Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group Privacy Officer Marisa] Rogers added, “In future updates, we will continue to refine our approach and implement your feedback about data collection and privacy controls.”
Hey, Microsoft, how about an option for “none” when it comes to data collection?
Of course, users willing to install a third-party program like
SpyBot's Anti-Beacon can turn the data collection off completely, but third-party solutions shouldn't be necessary here;
your PC's operating system should not behave like malware, or require anti-malware to keep it in check.
I don't know whether these changes will be enough to kick-start Windows 10's stalled growth; these privacy changes are definitely the most-requested and most impactful changes in the Creators Update. I suspect that Windows 7's "dug in" user base isn't going to be won over by this belated ¾-measure; until Microsoft give users the option to turn off data collection entirely, I suspect that Windows 10 will stay stagnant, while Windows 7 continues to thrive. If that's so, then it's possible that Microsoft will still find their way to Jesus, so to speak, on the Windows 10 issues that users have been most vocal about.
