Skip to main content

Watchdog not letting Microsoft off the hook on Windows 10 privacy, choice issues

windows 10 insider preview 14955 outlook mail calendar narrator upgrade
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
While the free upgrade offer for Windows 10 ended at the end of the July, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) isn’t letting Microsoft off the hook for alleged privacy and consumer choice infringements.

According to the digital rights nonprofit, Microsoft has “trampled” on privacy and consumers’ right to choose a product. Since its release, Windows 10 has been criticized for frequent upgrade reminders — including accusations of unsolicited automatic upgrades — as well as gathering an unnecessary amount of data on its users.

Recommended Videos

The insistent upgrade ads and reminders are part of Microsoft’s ambitious mission to have a billion devices running Windows 10 by 2018.

“The tactics Microsoft employed to get users of earlier versions of Windows to upgrade to Windows 10 went from annoying to downright malicious,” said Amul Kalia, EFF intake coordinator. He pointed to Microsoft reinstalling an advertising app for Windows 10 in users’ system trays as an example.

“Eventually, Microsoft started pushing Windows 10 via its Windows Update system,” he added, further criticizing the company for making the upgrade a recommended update for users next to the standard updates. “Time after time, with each update, Microsoft chose to employ questionable tactics to cause users to download a piece of software that many didn’t want.”

EFF continued to draw attention to security and privacy shortcomings that have been well-documented in Windows 10. The organization said the OS collects an “unprecedented amount of usage data” such as location data, text input, voice input, touch input, browsing history, and what programs you are running.

Microsoft has defended these practices, saying they help make the OS more personalized to the user. EFF raises concerns over whether or not opting out of these features is sufficient enough for the user as some data is still likely being gathered and sent back to servers.

“Microsoft should come clean with its user community,” said Kalia. “The company needs to acknowledge its missteps and offer real, meaningful opt outs to the users who want them, preferably in a single unified screen.”

He added that the company needs to clearly separate its operating system upgrades from its regular system updates to avoid any confusion.

EFF warns Microsoft that it may face lawsuits and government investigations into its practices if it doesn’t remedy these. One person is already petitioning on Change.org for EFF to carry out its own investigation into Windows 10.

Jonathan Keane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
Microsoft backs off on pressuring Windows 10 users to upgrade
Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating system logos are displayed on laptop screens.

Microsoft has announced that it will ease up the aggressive add tactic to get Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 after receiving negative backlash from users, as Windows Latest reports. There is no official word on whether stopping the full-screen multipage popups is permanent, but a plan to “share a new timeline in the coming months” was mentioned.

Windows 10 Home users saw these ads, but some Pro and Business users also saw them after rebooting their computers. Regardless of who saw them, the ads’ pause comes as the Windows 10 end-of-life date, October 14, 2025, approaches.

Read more
Microsoft is axing this seven-year-old Windows app
Someone using Paint 3D on a tablet with a stylus.

As spotted by Windows Central, Paint 3D will stop receiving updates and be removed from the Microsoft Store on November 4 of this year. Although it was once intended as a replacement for the classic Paint program, Paint 3D will be outlived by its predecessor and some of its best features have been transferred to the older app instead.

However, anyone who downloads Paint 3D before the cutoff date should be able to carry on using it past November.

Read more
PC gamers still prefer Windows 10 over Windows 11
A man stands in front of a gaming PC.

Windows 11 saw a decline in the latest Steam hardware and software survey for July 2024. According to Valve's data, gamers using Microsoft's newer operating system dropped below the 46% threshold. Currently, Windows 11 accounts for approximately 45.81% of all Windows users on Steam, marking a decrease of 0.82% from the previous month.

In contrast, Windows 10 experienced an increase of 0.74%, reaching a 50.16% share. Although gaming performance is generally similar on both operating systems, a recent test by Hardware Unboxed reveals that Windows 10 may offer better performance in certain titles due to the core isolation feature, where memory integrity is enabled by default on Windows 11.

Read more