[Njtechdiv] stop Windows 10's prying eyes

[Mario]

not to alarm anyone, but just be aware:

How to stop Windows 10's prying eyes
http://www.polygon.com/2015/7/31/9075531/windows-10-privacy-how-to

  By Samit Sarkar
  on Jul 31, 2015         at 12:30p

Windows 10 is here,
and Microsoft's latest operating system is designed for a mobile-first, 
cloud-first future, as CEO Satya Nadella puts it. But that future relies 
on big
data — your data — and by default, Windows 10 can track and share the 
websites you visit, the purchases you make, the places you go, the words 
you type,
the things you say and more.

You have the ability to control Windows 10's data collection, but it 
takes some doing. The installation process lets you customize privacy 
settings at
the end or go with the defaults in "express settings." We'd suggest 
taking the extra two minutes to forgo the latter and make your own 
choices here, or
adjusting the options after installation, because Microsoft's default 
privacy settings might not be as private as you'd like.

The first page of settings lists four options that you can toggle on or 
off, while the second page lists five items. All of them are on by default.

Under "Personalization," the first setting tailors your "speech, typing 
and inking input" to the way you talk, type and write ... "by sending 
contacts
and calendar details, along with other associated input data to 
Microsoft." The next setting sends typing and inking data to Microsoft 
to "improve the
recognition and suggestion platform."

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Some people may be comfortable with this usage; after all, third-party 
smartphone keyboards like SwiftKey improve their autocorrect 
functionality by learning
how you type. But for others, sharing "contacts and calendar details" 
may be a bridge too far.

Next is a rather nebulous entry: "Let apps use your advertising ID for 
experiences across apps." What this sentence doesn't quite explain is 
that Windows
10 generates a unique advertising ID for each user. If this option is 
enabled, it allows app developers and ad networks to profile you using 
that ID and
serve you ads based on how you use your PC.

The final part of the first settings page concerns location. Your 
computer may not have a GPS radio in it like your smartphone does, but 
if you're connected
to the internet, your location can be tracked through your IP address. 
With this option enabled, you're allowing Windows and apps to request 
your location,
including your location history. That's useful for location-based 
services like, say, telling a retailer's website where you are so it can 
give you the
address of the nearest store.

However, the location setting also lets Windows 10 "send Microsoft and 
trusted partners some location data to improve location services." That 
part of
the equation may give you pause, especially since you have no say in 
what Microsoft's "trusted partners" might be. (
ExtremeTech
  reports that the Windows 8 installation process included a similar 
setting, but without the sharing of your data with so-called trusted 
partners.)

Let's move to page two. The first toggle in the browser section enables 
Microsoft's SmartScreen Filter, which protects you against "malicious 
content and
downloads" in Windows browsers — Microsoft Edge, which debuts in Windows 
10, and Internet Explorer — and Windows Store apps. That sounds pretty 
good! Next
is a setting for page prediction, which sends your browsing data to 
Microsoft to "improve reading, speed up browsing, and make your overall 
experience
better in Windows browsers." You may have a similar feature enabled in 
your existing web browser, such as Google Chrome.

Windows 10 Wi-Fi Sense settings screenshot 1068

The next two options govern the way your PC connects to wireless 
networks, as part of a new Windows 10 feature called Wi-Fi Sense. The 
first setting lets
you automatically connect to "suggested open hotspots," while the second 
does the same for "networks shared by your contacts."

According to Microsoft's
Wi-Fi Sense FAQ,
the former setting relies on Microsoft's crowdsourced database of open 
Wi-Fi hotspots. If enough people get a good-quality connection from a 
hotspot, it'll
be added to the database.

The second setting is meant to eliminate the hassle of asking a friend 
for their Wi-Fi password when you visit their place. If enabled, the 
setting does
two things: (1) allows you to select Wi-Fi networks to share with your 
Outlook.com contacts, Skype contacts or Facebook friends, and (2) lets 
your PC automatically
connect to networks people have shared with you.

The way this works is that Wi-Fi passwords are shared through Wi-Fi 
Sense. The passwords are encrypted, and Wi-Fi Sense only provides 
internet access,
not file sharing access. But those encrypted passwords are stored on a 
Microsoft server somewhere. And there's no granularity: If you click the 
Facebook
check box, Wi-Fi Sense will allow all of your Facebook friends to 
connect to networks you've selected for sharing.

The final setting during Windows 10's installation process lets your 
computer "send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft." So if 
something goes
wrong with your PC in the future, it can send details of the situation 
to Microsoft, and the company can hopefully use that data to help find 
you a solution
to the issue.

Windows 10 Settings menu screenshot 1060

Adjusting privacy after installing Windows 10

If you did just click "express settings" during the Windows 10 
installation, that's OK: You can still change any of these settings 
whenever you want. Microsoft
offers a
guide with a laughable lack of specifics
  on how to do this, so here are some details.

Instead of visiting the Control Panel, like you might be accustomed to 
doing, open the Start menu (yes, it's back!) and click on Settings in 
the lower
left area. (You can also reach the system settings by opening up Windows 
10's new Action Center — click on the speech bubble near the right end 
of the
taskbar, then click "All settings.")

Most of the aforementioned toggles can be found under Privacy. That 
section also contains a host of other privacy settings, like options for 
which apps
are allowed to access your PC's location, camera, microphone, contacts, 
calendar and more. To get to the Wi-Fi Sense options, click Network & 
Internet
in the system settings, then hit "Manage Wi-Fi settings" below the list 
of available networks.

Hey, Cortana

Cortana, Microsoft's voice-powered digital assistant — and yes, she's 
named after the Halo character — is
integrated directly into Windows 10.
She's undeniably useful, able to search your computer and the internet 
through voice commands initiated with the phrase "hey, Cortana." She 
also offers
Google Now-like features such as presenting you with news, sports 
scores, alerts, reminders and more.

But like Google with Google Now, Apple with Siri and Amazon with the 
Echo, Microsoft needs to collect a lot of data about you and how you use 
the internet
in order to deliver that magical-seeming functionality. Here's a 
relevant excerpt from
Microsoft's privacy statement:

block quote
To enable Cortana to provide personalized experiences and relevant 
suggestions, Microsoft collects and uses various types of data, such as 
your device
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. Cortana also learns about you by collecting data 
about how you use your device and other Microsoft services, such as your 
music, alarm
settings, whether the lock screen is on, what you view and purchase, 
your browse and Bing search history, and more.
block quote end

Cortana also analyzes your speech data, of course, and that information 
is "sent to Microsoft to build personalized speech models and improve 
speech recognition."
Again, this kind of tracking is common to all these services, because 
they couldn't function without it. But if you're not comfortable with 
it, you can
click the search bar that's embedded in the Windows 10 taskbar, then 
click the gear icon on the left side to access your Cortana settings. 
There, you can
turn Cortana on or off, and
manage the information about you
  that Cortana keeps in the cloud.

Personalized advertising

The last piece of the privacy puzzle isn't in Windows 10 at all; it's 
located
on a website,
as
Rock, Paper, Shotgun
  points out. On that site, Microsoft makes the case for tailoring ads 
to your interests, and indeed, that's something you may want. But the 
company lets
you
opt out of ad personalization
  in two separate situations: in your browser, and "wherever I use my 
Microsoft account," which includes Windows, Xbox and other Microsoft 
services.

Read the fine print

As we've noted above, online services that rely on the collection of 
mounds of user data are only becoming more ubiquitous. These services 
look to make
our lives easier by learning how we live, work and play so they can 
anticipate our next move, satisfying our desires before we even express 
them.

it's worth knowing what you're signing up for

There's a larger conversation to be had about whether, or to what 
extent, we should be entrusting our ever-growing digital footprints to 
corporations like
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. But whichever side of the 
debate you fall on, it's worth knowing what you're signing up for when 
you scroll
past the next end-user license agreement you see.