The topic of privacy in Windows 10 has been contentious from the start. Microsoft repeatedly played the telemetry card, explaining that it needs that information to improve the operating system, optimize its functions, and fix bugs. However, complaints never fully disappeared, and with a European Union investigation in progress, the best path for Redmond is transparency. Microsoft has published a large amount of details about what Windows 10 collects and the scope of its diagnostic levels.
A step toward transparency
The Creators Update of Windows 10 has already been downloaded by many users, and the rest will receive it on April 11 via Windows Update. The update includes various changes and new features, but it also received low-level adjustments, starting with the amount of telemetry it compiles and sends to Microsoft's servers. This action caused (and continues to cause) multiple protests on the web, and Redmond insists on defending its benign use. Naturally, consumers disagree with that point of view, and the dispute reached the Article 29 Working Party of the European Union, which considers the modifications in Windows 10 insufficient. In other words, Microsoft needs to do some damage control, and decided to lift the veil on the information the operating system collects.
The telemetry levels
In addition to updating its privacy statement and introducing a new menu, with the release of the Creators Update Microsoft moved to limit telemetry options to two, Basic and Complete. Vice President Terry Myerson and Windows division privacy officer Marisa Rogers explained in an official post that the number of events recorded in Basic mode was reduced by half. Even so, when we explore the dedicated articles we notice that the number of elements within the reach of the Basic profile remains gigantic. Microsoft needed more than 30,000 words to describe each action, while in the Complete profile there are worrying points, such as the titles of a web page, the URL, the text entered in the address bar and the search box, and the browser ID, among other things.
Unresolved concerns
While it is very important that Microsoft makes all this information available to users and that the privacy parameters are clearer within the operating system, the feeling is that it does not fix the underlying problem. The Insider program should be enough to receive telemetry, and the options that restrict or completely disable it only appear in special versions of Windows 10, such as Enterprise and Education. Now, no one doubts that Google and Facebook do similar collection, but for once we want Microsoft to be the exception, and not part of the rule.
