With the Creators Update just around the corner, we take a look at what has and hasn’t changed privacy-wise between this and the previous major iteration of Windows 10, the Anniversary Update.
Privacy is an important aspect of one’s life, whether it be in the real or digital world. The more options you are given, and therefore more control, the better.
Regardless of if you’re concerned about the amount of data collection, or simply want to tweak things even more for other reasons, Microsoft has taken a few steps to help you with that in the latest Windows 10 update.
In this comparison, we’ll cover what has and has not changed between the Creators Update and the previous major version of Windows 10, in terms of setup experience and built-it privacy settings. At the end, there will be two other options outlined, for those wishing to further enhance privacy. First, let’s see how things were back in August of last year, when the first of the Redstone series of updates was released, the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.
Released on August 2, 2016 for PCs, the Anniversary Update brought a fair few changes to the user experience , among which a new dark theme across UWP apps, improvements to the Action Center, Windows Ink, and even new security features. All in all, it was a push towards more customizability, building upon the changes from Threshold 2, known as the November Update.
Speaking of customizability, users are given a first taste of it during the setup of the Anniversary Update. If you’re in a hurry, you can choose to use Express settings, which basically leaves them all set to whichever default Microsoft has chosen.
For this to be a fair comparison, the customize option was chosen, which at first reveals some general privacy-related settings:
Next, settings pertaining to connectivity and diagnostic data show up, with the latter outlining how each toggle state affects the sending of data back to Microsoft:
The last privacy related option relates to browsing activity, more specifically browsing protection via SmartScreen and browsing history. Via page prediction, the OS aims to improve your experience, and as such, sends non-identifiable browsing data back to Redmond. This particular phrasing might seem a little worrying for a non-technical user, since the software giant does not clarify exactly what type of browsing data is actually being sent.
Once the shiny new install is ready and you’re all booted up, it’s time to fiddle around with settings, most importantly those related to privacy. If you really wish to, most of these settings can be turned completely off, although some features will not work properly.
Even so, privacy concerns were targeted at Microsoft by the EFF , calling for the firm to “listen to these concerns and incorporate this feedback into the next release of its operating system”. Even pirates were weary of the data collection, going as far as to ban Windows 10 users.
