Just three days in from Microsoft’s
free upgrade to Windows 10 and complaints and criticisms are underway. Windows 10 default privacy settings have been widely criticised for sending personal
information to Microsoft, using bandwidth to upload data to other computers
running the operating system, sharing Wi-Fi passwords with online friends and
removing the ability to opt out of security updates [1]. Upon installing the new OS,
Microsoft assigns the user a unique advertising ID which is tied to the email
address that was used to register with Microsoft [1]. This email address is
then associated with a raft of other services, such as app downloads, web
browsing and cloud-storage uploads. By tying an ID number to users, Microsoft
can use this to track users across different devices, services and applications
[2]. The upshot of this means Microsoft is able to personalise adverts to each
user. Even solitaire now has unskippable video adverts [1].
According to Microsoft, to allow Cortana
(Microsoft’s personal assistant equivalent of Siri) to personalise its response
it “collects and uses various types of data, such as your device geo-location,
data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text
messages, who you call, your contacts and how often you interact with them on
your device” [7]. But haven’t both Google and Apple been accessing user data to
personalise responses for a while now? And in return for offering their applications
for free they have trawled your personal data in order to deliver adverts
customised just for you?
The EDRi (European Digital Rights) say that Microsoft’s 45 pages of t&cs “grants [Microsoft]
very broad rights to collect everything you do, say and write with and on your
devices in order to sell more targeted advertising or to sell your data to
third parties” [3].
Microsoft’s new update service has
also come under criticism. Not only does it remove the option to NOT install
updates, but WUDO (Windows Update Delivery Optimisation), which is enabled by
default, uses a P2P service which means once your device has downloaded the
update, this update can be shared with other people online [4]. It makes sense to share updates, but users are not happy that this is at the expense of their own bandwidth. For some time now, experts have warned of the dangers of not updating systems, in particular for security patches (see So, you are an online security expert are you?). All Microsoft have done (as have Firefox, Google and countless other applications) is take the user out of the equation; I would argue at the benefit rather than determent of the user.
It’s not very often I champion
Microsoft, but for once they are in a no-win situation. Users want more from
their OSs and are relying more on the web and multiple application integration to
deliver these services. Users are becoming more reliant on personal assistants;
which need to learn user behaviour to be of any real value. I am sure that if
Microsoft had disabled all these settings by default they would have received
just as many complaints saying it is too complicated to enable them
all. What I don’t understand in all this is that this comes as a shock to those
complaining. Why? Microsoft has issued a FREE upgrade. I challenge you
to show me one thing on the Internet that does not cost ANYTHING. Usually you
pay for zero-cost by sacrificing something else; typically loss of privacy and
usually this is through advertising or selling your data. Would these complainers
rather pay for Windows 10 with privacy settings to be enabled by default?
For those that both want their cake and to eat it - Cortana can be set to “Stop getting to know me” [2],
WUDO can be disabled [4] and with a bit of effort most default enabled settings
can be disabled [5] [6].
Personally, I believe that a) security
settings should be enabled by default; let the user turn these off if they know
how and really need too, and b) personal privacy settings should be disabled by
default; if the user really decides that they need Cortana to know their geo-location
so it can recommend the nearest McDonalds, then let the users go to the effort of setting this.
It always saddens me when users
are prepared to forfeit their privacy for something that is “free”. With
non-open source software you never quite know what you are sacrificing. Privacy
is easy to give away, but very difficult to get it back. For myself, I see no
immediate hurry to upgrade to Windows 10, so in the meantime, will be sticking
with Windows 7 ... well, at least until Microsoft tell me I have no choice!
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