In a post to the Blogging Windows site, Terry Myerson address the issue of privacy in Windows 10. The answer comes several weeks late after many consumers have expressed concerns to the telemetry data in Windows 10 that was also pushed back to Windows 7 and 8 via Windows Updates. Even while the post is on the topic of privacy concerns, it does not acknowledge those concerns directly and resorts to finger-pointing at unnamed other companies to distract from the question and the fact that privacy control options will be added in as an after-thought.
Unlike some other platforms, no matter what privacy options you choose, neither Windows 10 nor any other Microsoft software scans the content of your email or other communications, or your files, in order to deliver targeted advertising to you.
Along with the post, Microsoft added new documentation for consumers and separate documentation for IT Pros, stemming from the “One Microsoft Privacy Policy“.
The consumer information is a good plain-spoken explanation of the different services that Microsoft collects data in order to provide the service, such as Outlook, OneDrive, Cortana, Skype, Bing, the Windows Store, and your device itself. Each section provides information why the data is needed and concludes with how to change the privacy settings.
The information for IT Pros is also informative with explanations of the different options to control telemetry through the user interface, Group Policy, MDM, Registry, Windows ICD, or Unattended builds. The different components that are documented include:
- Cortana
- Internet Explorer
- Live tiles
- Microsoft Edge
- Settings > Privacy
- Software Protection Platform
- Sync your settings
- OneDrive
- Wi-Fi Sense
- Windows Defender
- Windows Update
- Windows Update Delivery Optimization
It is unfortunate that no one approach controls everything but Group Policy gets pretty close. The documentation explains where to find the settings, a description of the setting, and the default configuration.
Our enterprise feature updates later this year will enable enterprise customers the option to disable this telemetry, but we strongly recommend against this.