Windows 10 Stealing Personal Data? Microsoft's Latest OS Collects More Than It Should, EFF Warns

Windows 10 sends personal information about computers up to Microsoft, even if users have changed all their settings to prevent it. While much of the information is harmless, some of it includes an identification number that could be traced back to the computers' users.

A recent report from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) now claims that Windows 10 collects more user data than ever before. "Windows 10 sends an unprecedented amount of usage data back to Microsoft," warns EFF's Amul Kalia.

What are the accusations?

There's a non-exhaustive list of data sent back: location data, text input, voice input, touch input, webpages you visit, and telemetry data of your computer, including which programs you run and for how long. "The traffic could be innocuous, but the inclusion of a machine ID gives it a suspicious appearance," concludes Peter Bright, writing for the site.

Computers running the new operating system regularly get in contact with Microsoft servers to download and upload identifying data, Ars Technica reports. Windows 10 users should also be aware that enabling Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant, adds to even more data sent back to Microsoft.

France's National Data Protection Commission, 'CNIL' points to Windows 10's telemetry service, the complaint is that "these data are not necessary for the operation of the service". The company has been ordered to "stop collecting excessive data and tracking browsing by users without their consent" by the France Government.

Other information that the computers send out is "quite impenetrable". The computers seem to be sending out information through a special network that means that it can't be monitored. However, Microsoft told Ars Technica that, "No query or search usage data is sent to Microsoft, in accordance with the customer's chosen privacy settings. This also applies to searching offline for items such as apps, files and settings on the device."

The EFF has urged Microsoft to offer some real choices to users, implementing substantial opt-outs that would actually work."There's no doubt that Windows 10 has some great security improvements over previous versions of the operating system. But it's a shame that Microsoft made users choose between having privacy and security," EFF ended.