Windows 10 users unwittingly sharing data with Microsoft

Microsoft may be providing users with a free Windows 10 upgrade, but the offer seems to come with a darker side.

The firm’s latest privacy policy, which sits next to a pre-checked box during the upgrade process, ensures that Microsoft receives masses of data, including a user’s typing patterns and geographical location. Much of the information collected relates to Cortana, the operating system’s in-built digital assistant.

The user can turn off some of the sharing features although they would lose some functionality, Cortana included. Ars Technica, an online tech publication, claims that the user can disable Wi-Fi sense, open Wi-Fi hot spot connections, and predicative web browsing.

The publication indicated that Windows 10 continues to send data to MS even after the user has turned certain settings off.

The fact that data sharing is seemingly automatic on the system is concerning to advocates of online privacy despite the fact that users are getting something in return.

Speaking to SCMagazine.com, programme manager for ICSA Labs, Greg Wasson, suggested that he finds such transparent sharing ‘troubling’, stating:

“It wasn’t rushed, but it came out quicker than previous operating systems. Maybe it was an oversight, maybe not.”

Internet users are more savvy than they once were and don’t like to give away too much of their personal data. Many firms in the UK need to ensure that they protect customer data following this update to Microsoft’s operating system. There have been numerous occasions where user data has been unintentionally beached, which is why it is so important today for all businesses to make information security jobs available to trained cyber professionals.