With the advent increase in cyber security attacks, Microsoft plans to benefit users by providing them more control over their activity data. This has been made possible with the release of a new web-based privacy dashboard that’ll enable you to review and manage data across all the Microsoft services. It has been accompanied by certain privacy improvements in Windows 10, that will roll out along with the Creators Update.
The Redmond giant has been rebuked about the privacy concerns associated with their Window-as-a-service offering. Some have gone as far as to state that Windows 10 sends an “unprecedented amount of usage data” back to the company. Thus, Microsoft is now planning to hand over control of your collected data, including location, search, browsing, and Cortana Notebook data, to users via the privacy dashboard. It is a web-based portal
It is a web-based portal that is aimed at providing a closer look at what data is being collected and shared with the company. Being online, it can be accessed from anywhere by using just your Microsoft account credentials. You will be then be greeted with a detailed overview of the data being collected from its services under separate categories. It further provides you with the ability to edit any of these services and stop the sharing of data which you deem private.
With this release, Microsoft has jumped the hurdle of online transparency as it now provides you with more visibility of your online tapestry. Speaking on the same, Terry Myerson, Executive VP, Windows and Devices Group, says,
This is our first step in expanding the tools that give you visibility and control over your data spanning Microsoft products and services, and we will continue to add more functionality and categories of data over time.
Additionally, Microsoft is also promising to further simplify the privacy setting that’ll be made available in the Windows 10 Creators Update, scheduled to drop in a couple months. The Redmond giant has decided to redesign the privacy settings experience from the start. It has first replaced the Express settings with a completely new setup experience, which might differ as per your Windows variant. You’ll be required to choose your privacy settings (shown below) before moving on to install Windows 10 or updating it.
Also, Redmond has simplified its Diagnostic data collection levels to further enable you to choose the data you’re willing to send back to the company. The team has reduced the levels of data collection from the current three to just two, namely Basic and Full. If you’ve chosen the enhanced level, then you’ll be prompted to choose either of the two levels with the Creators Update.
Microsoft also mentions that it has reduced the data collection points for the Basic levels to now only include the data, which is necessary to make Windows 10 operate without hiccups. In the official blog post, Myerson comments on the same as under:
we’ve further reduced the data collected at the Basic level. This includes data that is vital to the operation of Windows. We use this data to help keep Windows and apps secure, up-to-date, and running properly when you let Microsoft know the capabilities of your device, what is installed, and whether Windows is operating correctly
