Windows 10 Privacy Settings

The launch of Windows 10 has resulted in some electronic privacy concerns rising to the surface that have not been widely reported on or understood by most technology users. The extent to which you give Microsoft access to information about your computer use by leaving these various features activated (most are ‘on’ by default) is largely a matter of your individual comfort level with how Microsoft will use the information. While some of the collected data is used to improve Microsoft software by analyzing crashes or malfunctions, much more of it is used to ‘improve user experience’ by tailoring advertising based on user location or previous web browsing habits.

One feature that we strongly recommend users disable is the “Getting to know you” setting, which can be found from the Windows button (formerly the Start button on the bottom left corner of the screen), under Settings, then Privacy, then Speech, inking, and typing. This setting is designed to gather information about your typing and speech patterns to improve search results, among other things. It seems to work by collecting keystrokes and sending them over the network to Microsoft for analysis. This sounds a lot like a key logger. While the connection to Microsoft is surely encrypted, there is still potential for controlled information typed in by a user to be transmitted to a third party (Microsoft), in which case the user loses control of how that data is used or safeguarded.

Below we make some general privacy setting recommendations based on our understanding of how the information is used by Microsoft. These settings are recommendations for users who routinely work with sensitive data and they are a good baseline for all Windows 10 users. Understand that some of these recommendations may limit Windows functionality in the interest of improving privacy and safeguarding personal and university data. Individual organizations and users should carefully consider each setting to determine what is appropriate for your organization.

To find these settings, click on the Windows button, then Settings, then Privacy.