Windows 10 Creators Update Hides a Secret Ad Switch, Privacy Group Warns

[Karamjit]

Microsoft is tweaking Windows 10 Creators Update to address all the recent privacy complaints, so the operating system will come with an improved OOBE that includes more options to give users better control of their data when installing the update.

Dutch consumer group Consumentenbond, however, issued a warning for users in the country after discovering what it claims to be a sneaky ad setting that’s not visible by default and which could lead to “personalized” ads to be displayed on Windows 10 devices.

Specifically, the organization claims that when setting up Windows 10 Creators Update, users are provided with several options during the process, some of which concern the privacy level in the operating system.

The hidden setting

There’s one hidden setting though, which only shows up when hovering the mouse on the right screen triggering a scroll bar to be enabled. Scrolling down reveals an ad option, which according to Microsoft “lets apps use adverting ID to make ads more interesting to you based on your app usage.” In other words, Windows 10 checks out your installed apps and then displays ads based on the collected data.

“Microsoft should let users enable advertising tracking on their PCs,” the Dutch consumer group says. “Allowing users to see an option that’s enabled by default is equal to legal consent and is just as valuable as a signature on a contract,” it continues.

Microsoft has already responded to the organization and explained that these claims were made after installing a preview version of the Windows 10 Creators Update, and the company keeps improving privacy settings in the operating system.

Consumentenbond notes that Microsoft has only a few weeks to implement privacy changes and address these concerns given the fact that the Creators Update is just around the corner, and emphasizes that the ad setting should be visible by default to make it easy for everyone to disable it without having to scroll.

From: http://news.softpedia.com/news/windows-10-creators-update-hides-a-secret-ad-switch-privacy-group-warns-513993.shtml

[steven36]

I wonder did this privacy  group actually  use any tools to see what Windows 10 is doing in the background ?  I doubt it,.  just getting it were you can't see ads may be pleasing too the human eye. But this  dont  mean it respects you're privacy by a mile. When it comes to data going in and out of you're computer.no one can tell what there doing with it  because they encrypt it but you can see it if  you use a sniffer  and block it if you have the right programs.

 

I'm picky about what goes in out of my computer and have uninstalled programs  before, also I block everything that dont have no useful  reason for being online because i didn't like how they do in the background. You got too  love noobs who think not being able too see ads respect you're privacy . I seen programs that had built in ads and if you block them with a firewall they respect you're privacy because it dont  have no internet connection . 

 

9 times out of 10  if you can see ads  there will be someway too disable it even if the settings is hidden. So this is the lest of my worries. What i cant see without a sniffer that worries me.  (Some examples) When you use a blacklisted serial if you dont block it will deactivate you. If you get malware on you're computer  there's no way too see it without using some type of anti-malware and when it comes to software spying on you it's the same way without a sniffer you're in the dark and without a good  interactive firewall there's no way too block it all. 

 

Most people cant see the forest for the trees. There is many programs that dont respect you're privacy some of them have spyware baked in  and there are some programs like Avast free you have use a Firewall to even block the ads why are they not going after them? And just because you hide the ads dont mean they still not there in the background . Unless there blocked somehow. Most people who use Ad blockers use anti tracking list or a anti tracking program too for ads you can't see. OS is software too, so what makes @Consumentenbond think being able to see what settings they do have easy to see does any good? It's nothing but a false sense of privacy.. It's  the  things you can't turn off  that  is the pita.

 

I dont see no ads  but still Windows 10 calls out to Bing , Microsoft and MSN in the background  and i block it with my firewall. So @Consumentenbond don't seem too be on the same intelligence level as me . They have not got past kindergarten yet !

 

[namek]

If people in the governments were smarter, Windows 10 and this approach of Microsoft confidential data mining would have been banned long time ago in all countries besides USA.

[thunderpants]

Microsoft gets all the manure while everyone else has been doing the same for years.