Windows 10 Technical Preview criticised for collecting data

sincity · October 8, 2014

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What looks like a storm in a teacup has been spurned after a number of news outlets reported that Microsoft's latest operating system collects user data; a lot of user data and not always from the sources you'd expect.

Windows 10 Technical Preview has built-in technology that allows Microsoft to capture minute details of a user session, including keystrokes and even voice. While capturing data is nothing new, the extent to which that is done could be seen as worrying.

What to expect from Windows 10?

The "terms of use" page of the Windows Insider Program mentions that the Cupertino-based company "automatically collect and transmit data to Microsoft and its partners regarding activities on your registered devices, including personal information".

However, giving up on Windows 10 completely because of its perceived data logging capabilities would be a bit of a rash decision. Most, if not all, recent operating systems (both desktop and mobile) transmit some sort of data - almost always anonymised - to their respective owners for a number of reasons.

One of the rumoured features of Windows 10 was that they'd be able to see what's happening in near real-time on users' machines via a telemetry system called Asimov, akin to an evolved RDC (remote desktop connection) solution.