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Microsoft opens up on Windows telemetry, tells us most of what data it collects


Karlston

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Windows telemetry is getting a lot more transparent.

cctv-cameras-640x255.jpg

Microsoft has published the full range of data that Windows 10 version 1703, the Creators Update, will collect in its default "basic" telemetry setting. The company has also provided details on the kinds of information that can be captured in the optional "full" telemetry setting.

 

Since it was first released there has been widespread concern about Windows 10's data collection, as the operating system collects various kinds of data and sends it back to Microsoft. The company says it uses this information to determine how well systems are running and get a heads up on problems that users are facing. Telemetry isn't new to Windows, but prior to Windows 10 it was always opt-in, through schemes such as the Customer Experience Improvement Program and Windows Error Reporting. If you didn't want to send anything, you could turn it all off.

 

In Windows 10, however, that changed: while the Windows 10 Enterprise version, available to software assurance subscribers, enabled customers to disable telemetry, the regular consumer editions (Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro) did not. At release, there were three options (Basic, Enhanced, Full); as of the Creators Update there are only two (Basic and Full). Basic is the default setting, though members of the Windows 10 Insider Program have their systems set to Full.

 

This mandate, combined with the lack of documentation—Microsoft has never said precisely what the various options mean—has provoked many complaints from privacy-conscious Windows users.

 

The Creators Update represents Microsoft's first real reaction to the outcry. The operating system itself is more explicit about obtaining consent for privacy settings. The out-of-box experience shown during installation has a new settings screen for privacy options, and existing Windows 10 users will be asked to choose their privacy settings during the process of upgrading to the Creators Update.

 

Microsoft has also extended the documentation within the product and online to be clearer and more explicit about what each privacy option controls and what the consequences are of turning the options on and off.

 

But it's publishing the full set of data points that the Basic setting can collect that's the biggest change. Making this available should go some way towards alleviating fears about how invasive the OS is. There isn't a full list of Full telemetry mode data, however; while the company is offering documentation of the kinds of data it can collect, it isn't doing so in the same exhaustive way as it is for the Basic setting. The company is also not offering documentation for older Windows 10 versions nor for the data collection in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

The privacy settings that people upgrading to the Creators Update will see.
Enlarge / The privacy settings that people upgrading to the Creators Update will see.
Microsoft

Marisa Rogers, the "privacy officer" of the Windows and Devices Group, told us that the telemetry data is genuinely useful to making Windows better. As an example the company offered us, there was a problem with the Windows Alarm app. The Alarm app can have more complicated interactions than one might think, due to its interactions with system sleep (it can wake a machine up if necessary) and the notification framework. Some Windows users reported that their alarms weren't consistently going off. As is often the case with annoying bugs, the problem was intermittent, appearing to occur randomly and hence difficult to reproduce for debugging. With information collected at the Full level from a broad range of affected machines, the company's developers were able to ascertain the precise combination of factors leading to problems, and discovered that alarms became more unreliable as they grew older. The bug was fixed, and a patch was deployed.

 

Another problem the company described to us was that certain combinations of audio drivers and audio hardware were resulting in audio that was broken or missing certain special effects. The telemetry data enabled the exact pairings of drivers and hardware that had issues to be pinpointed, enabling a fix to be developed.

 

Microsoft has also been open about how it uses this kind of information to stagger rollouts of major Windows updates. The Creators Update, like the major updates before it, will initially be offered only to configurations that Microsoft has high confidence in; OEM systems that have been explicitly tested are one example. As Microsoft's tracking registers more successful installations—more pieces of third-party software working correctly, more drivers and hardware functioning properly—Windows Update will offer the update to a wider range of PC configurations. After a few weeks, the floodgates will be opened and it will be offered to every system aside from those with known, specific incompatibilities. These phased deployments depend on telemetry data.

 

These practical experiences have also shown Microsoft that some data isn't useful. Accordingly, Rogers said that in the Creators Update this information is no longer being collected, and the total volume of data has dropped by about half.

 

The final alteration being made for the Creators Update is an greater control over the voice data that Cortana collects. The online privacy dashboard will soon include a new section to review and delete any voice data that Microsoft holds.

 

These improvements are unlikely to appease that minority of users that regard the mandatory telemetry as an unacceptable intrusion, but greater clarity about what data gets collected is nonetheless a step forward.

 

Source: Microsoft opens up on Windows telemetry, tells us most of what data it collects (ars TECHNICA - Peter Bright)

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Those things are very superficial ....<_<

 

The base will remain settings from the Group Policy Editor, some tools like O&O ShutUp and of course a good firewall like Windows 10 Firewall Control.:showoff:

 

;)

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6 minutes ago, Recruit said:

Those things are very superficial ....<_<

 

The base will remain settings from the Group Policy Editor, some tools like O&O ShutUp and of course a good firewall like Windows 10 Firewall Control.:showoff:

 

;)

 

Let's say you don't want Microsoft collect data from you, first of all you gotta remember that Windows is a closed source OS so you can never be 100% sure that you've covered up everything, because you're not the creator of it. but then, what kind of company Microsoft is and what they can do with the data collected from you? we see they say to the public that they use those data to improve their OS, well we know that's true to a degree. in that case you don't need to use any of those third party softwares to prevent OS from sending data to their servers because eventually it will be good for you and used to improve the OS you're using.

But if your goal is to prevent your data from being sent to Microsoft because you don't trust that company, well that's another story. yes of course Microsoft can't be trusted, Ed Snowden when he started to name the companies working for NSA we all heard the name of the Skype and Microsoft's company among those names. so if you wanna counter NSA and prevent THEM from accessing your data, you gotta unplug your Internet or any way of connection that can possibly connect you to the outside world. otherwise, there is NO way to counter them. if they want to access your files on your computer drive, they can do it, they don't care if your files are encrypted with bcrypt, AES-256 anything. they will brute force and unlock everything. 

you might say: okay I know NSA and Microsoft are working together but still I wanna try using these tools so maybe I make it harder for them to access my data, but you are no way making it harder for them, not even a bit.

these documents Microsoft releasing to the public is just to fix their stance and reputation for the public, no other use.

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I been blocking them since Windows XP with 3rd party tools , I dont trust  no closed source app even if i like it,  because it's source code cant be reviewed by independent researchers. They can post all that on a  page if they want. But its what is in there privacy policy  we agree too that bothers me in the end. It's just more smoke and  mirrors so the EU  Government will shut up .

 

 

Microsoft’s New Privacy Tactic: (Even) More Transparency

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/108648/even-more-privacy

 

What about when i 1st installed creators update and it was calling home to sites that was not even Microsoft like Facebook and it kept installing it back tell I blocked it from installing store updates? What about the other site (AdDuplex) that collects data from store apps that's not Microsoft that tells us how many adopts new Windows  10 versions? It's good there being more transparent but not transparent enough for me to trust them and there not doing this for end users no way  there doing it too  make the EU government happy. Google is very transparent about some things but it's not  transparent at all about how it makes it's money from free software .. I would like to know how they make money with ads and things on Windows 10 and why does the privacy policy say they can sell our data?

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Woody's take...

Microsoft finally sheds light on Windows 10 telemetry

This morning’s revelations about Win10 Creators Update snooping (finally!) sheds light on your privacy, but there's a whole lotta snoopin' goin' on

Microsoft finally sheds light on Windows 10 telemetry
Credit: Leon Brooks

While we won't see a Snooping Off button in Windows 10 Creators Update, announcements this morning move us a big step toward a very simple, basic goal: We now know quite a bit about the privacy settings in Win10 version 1703. It's not exactly the Holy Grail, but nonetheless rates as a step over the Gorge of Eternal Peril.

 

This morning's Windows blog announcement called "Windows 10 privacy journey continues: more transparency and controls for you," covers a lot of ground we've already seen. But two TechNet posts from Brian Lich called, simply, "Windows 10, version 1703 Diagnostic Data" and "Windows 10, version 1703 basic level Windows diagnostic events and fields," cover new ground.

 

The Windows blog announcement contains a rehash of what's gone before. Back in January, I took a deep dive into the Creators Update privacy choices that appear when you install the Creators Update. Here's what you agree to if you choose to turn on all the choices:

 

win10 15063 install sequence 21 onIDG

 

And here's what you're missing with all of the choices turned off:

win10 15063 install sequence 21 offIDG

 

(If you're upgrading-in-place from an earlier version of Win10 to Win10 Creators Update, you see a less snazzy, but syllable-for-syllable identical set of selections.)

Diagnostics, you'll note, are set at either Basic or Full. There's no such thing as "none."

My objection back in January still holds:

The odd man out is the new setting marked "Tailored experiences with diagnostic data." That one raises a red flag for me because it says Microsoft can use diagnostic data to "get more relevant tips and recommendations to tailor Microsoft products and services for your needs." I guess it all depends on what you mean by "diagnostic data," but clearly Microsoft includes personally identifiable data—what one might call snooping—in its definition of "diagnostic data."

Now, finally, we have lists of what information that might include. Actually, we have two lists:

 

Windows 10, version 1703 Diagnostic Data gives a high-level view of the kinds of data collected at both Full and Basic levels, with a small handful of examples of the kinds of data in each category. The TechNet post breaks down those categories into Common data; Device, Connectivity, and Configuration data; Product and Service Usage data; Product and Service Performance data; Software Setup and Inventory data; Content Consumption data; Browsing, Search and Query data; Inking Typing and Speech Utterance data; and Licensing and Purchase data.

 

The second lists gives field-by-field descriptions of the data collected at the Basic level. Windows 10, version 1703 basic level Windows diagnostic events and fields runs more than 30,000 words describing the events and data being plucked. If my macro skills are still up to snuff, I count 1,966 separate data fields.

 

No matter how you look at it, that's a whole lotta snoopin' goin' on. That's in the Basic diagnostic level, no less. There's no definitive list for Full Diagnostics, as best I can tell.

 

This morning, Lich updated his TechNet post "Configure Windows telemetry in your organization" -- this latest version still covers the Enhanced Diagnostic level, although it'll disappear in 1703 -- but it doesn't contain a great deal of detail.

 

Windows and Devices EVP Terry Myerson says in the Windows blog post:

Our commitment to you is that we only collect data at the Basic level that is necessary to keep your Windows 10 device secure and up to date.

Although it isn't clear how frequently Microsoft transmits Windows data, how many of those 1,966 data items go out in each spurt, and how many machines are under scrutiny, the sum total of all that telemetry must be breathtaking.

 

You can blame me if you want. I've been kvetching about Microsoft's lack of transparency in Win10 snooping for years. It's nice to have the details in hand at last. Let's see what we can make of them.

 

The sheer volume of data is overwhelming. Microsoft collects a hell of a lot of data about your Windows system. It's going to take a lot of divining to figure out what goes out and when.

 

My biggest beef? There's still no "Telemetry Off" option, no ability to say, "Golly, thanks, but my machine's OK without sending you 1,966 pieces of info."

 

As for increased snooping in Windows 7 and 8.1, those remain unaddressed. MrBrian on the AskWoody Lounge has undertaken extensive testing, and the results aren't pleasant.

 

Microsoft's made a great step forward with Win10 today. This, much more than Insider nudging on Wintrivia, shows that Microsoft's management is listening to its customers. Perhaps this newfound transparency religion is in response to the Damocles sword of regulatory pressures in Europe. Perhaps it's a realization that resistance to Win10 adoption is founded on real concerns, not tinfoil hats. Whatever the motivation and its shortcomings, the direction's right.

 

Of course, I still recommend that you refrain from installing Win10 1703 for several more months. But when time comes to take the medicine, it may not be as bitter as anticipated.

 

Avid discussion continues on the AskWoody Lounge.

 

Source: Microsoft finally sheds light on Windows 10 telemetry (InfoWorld - Woody Leonhard)

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Every part of your PC is forced into cubes, even your hardware.

You can put a USB stick into your PC and it opens in a separated cube, protecting your system from

any harmful content on the device. Nothing is 100% safe, but Cubes OS comes closest to that number.

 

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