WHAT DOES MICROSOFT KNOW ABOUT YOU?
Your personal details
If you’ve ever created a Microsoft account (and this is a pre-requisite if you’ve ever used Windows 10, Outlook, Onedrive or Skype), then Microsoft knows quite a lot about you already. To find out how deep its knowledge goes, go to https://login. live.com and type your Microsoft email address (typically ending in @hotmail. com, @live.com, @msn.com, @passport. com or @outlook.com), click Next, then enter your password and click ‘Sign in’. Click ‘Your info’ and then ‘Edit your personal info’ to see whether Microsoft has a record of your birthday and post code.
You can’t remove your country/region because Microsoft needs to know where you are to provide location-specific Windows updates, and it also needs to know your date of birth to ensure that you’re over 21. However, there’s nothing to stop you entering a fake date of birth should you wish (though make a note of this bogus date in case you ever need it to recover your password).
You can also restrict how much Microsoft knows about where you are by deleting your postcode and choosing ‘Select’ from the Constituent Country dropdown menu. Finally, you can choose ‘Not specified’ from the Gender dropdown menu should you wish. Click Save to apply your settings (see screenshot above right).
Every website you’ve visited
Microsoft will record your internet browsing history if you use the Edge browser in Windows 10 and it’s voiceactivated personal assistant Cortana is switched on. To see this, go to www. snipca.com/23250 – you may be prompted to sign into your Microsoft account) and scroll down the page. A record of every website you’ve visited will be listed in date order.
Microsoft claims that having access to your browsing habits lets it improve Edge and provide personalised suggestions, but preventing Microsoft from accessing your online activities won’t make any difference to your browsing experience.
First, click ‘Clear browsing history’ (see screenshot above) to wipe Microsoft’s records to date. Next, you need to switch off Microsoft’s ability to track you from this point on. Open the Edge browser, click the Menu button (the three dots at the top right), then Settings, ‘View advanced settings’ and switch the ‘Have Cortana assist me in Microsoft Edge’ slider to Off (see screenshot below far left). Now open Cortana (click the search box at the left of the taskbar), click the Notebook icon, Permissions, then switch off the ‘Browsing history’ slider (see screenshot left). Note that this won’t remove the browsing history that you can see, only the history that Microsoft can access.
What you’ve searched for online
Now that you’ve restored some control over your browsing history, it’s time to do the same with what you search for online.
Go to your Privacy Dashboard ( www. snipca.com/23251). Anything you’ve ever searched for in Bing will be listed here. Even if you don’t consciously use Bing, you may find Microsoft has captured some of your search history anyway. This is because Edge uses Bing as its default search engine, so entering a search term into Edge’s search bar will automatically alert Bing.
Microsoft claims it uses this information to provide more relevant search results, but we’ve noticed little difference after disabling it.
To wipe the search history Microsoft currently holds, click the ‘Clear search history’ button. The best way to stop your future search activities being stored on Microsoft’s servers from now on is to change Edge’s default search engine to Google (or another of your choice).
You’ll first have to visit the website of the search engine you want to use. In Google’s case, go to www.google.co.uk. Next, click Edge’s Menu icon (three dots at the top right), Settings, ‘View advanced settings’, then ‘Change search engine’. Click Google to highlight it, then ‘Set as default’ (see screenshot right). If you want to use a search engine that doesn’t track you at all, you should consider Duckduckgo. Visit www. duckduckgo.com, then select it as your default search engine using the steps described above.
Where you live and where you go
Microsoft doesn’t need your post code to have a good idea of where you live and work – or indeed where you are right now. All it needs is login data from your PC, or – if you own one – a Windows phone or tablet. To find out whether Microsoft knows where you are when you log into Windows, go to www.snipca. com/23255 (or click Location in the Privacy Dashboard).
You’ll see a map marked with orange dots, which represent a location where you have logged into your Microsoft account. To view each record Microsoft has kept about your location click the down arrow next to ‘Past 2 weeks’ and select ‘All time’ (see screenshot below). The map will usually focus on your home location, but you can zoom in and out using the ‘+’ and ‘-’ symbols at the top right of the map (or use your mouse’s scroll wheel).
If you zoom out and then move the map (by holding down the left mouse button and moving your mouse) you’ll be able to see if Microsoft has tracked you when you’ve been travelling further afield.
You can wipe all stored location data by clicking the ‘Clear location activity’ button. However, you should consider whether there is certain information you want Microsoft to have. For example, if you use Bing Maps (or the Windows 10 Maps app) to plan journeys, or Cortana to give you live travel updates, it helps if Microsoft knows the location of your home or work.
Go to www.snipca.com/23260 (you may be prompted to sign into your Microsoft account) and click the Edit button in the My Places box (see screenshot above right). The box will turn grey and you can now click the pencil icons to the right of Home and Work to edit their settings or delete them entirely. To edit a location, click the pencil icon and type a post code, then select your address from the list (see screenshot above right). If you want to delete your location history click the ‘x’ next to the pencil icon. Once you’re happy with your settings, click the back button (at the top left), then Done.
To stop Microsoft from tracking y our location in future you’ll need to tweak a few settings in Windows 10. Click the Start button, Settings, Privacy, then Location. Turn the ‘Location service’ slider off (see screenshot top right of page 53). This also stops your Windows 10 programs and apps from detecting your current location.
To set a default location (which can be handy if you want news and finance apps
to give you Uk-specific information, for example) click the ‘Set default’ button. When the Maps app opens check the ‘Default location’ box. If you set a location using Bing’s My Places (see page 52) you should see your home location indicated. If you don’t see a location or it’s incorrect, click Change, enter your password, then choose an address from the list of results. Your location should now appear in the ‘Default location’ box. Now close the Maps app.
Another option is to leave the ‘Location service’ slider turned on, but then choose which Windows apps can use your location. To do this, click the Start menu, Settings, Privacy, Location, then scroll to the bottom of the Location settings menu until you see a list of apps. Here, you can use the sliders to deny certain apps access to your location. You might, for example, want to grant the Maps and News apps permission to access your location, particularly if you regularly travel abroad.
Cortana knows what your interests are
If you’ve used Windows 10 for a while, you’ll be well aware of Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, even if you haven’t used it. In Microsoft’s ideal world, we’d all organise our lives through Cortana – but we’ve yet to meet many people that actually do. Instead, Cortana sits on your PC and watches you – ever attentive as it waits for a command or request that never comes.
However, even if you steadfastly refuse to interact with it, Cortana knows a lot about you, including what you get up to in your spare time and what you buy online. To find out exactly what it knows go to www.snipca.com/23263 (or click Cortana’s Notebook in the Privacy Dashboard).
On the left you’ll see a list of categories. Try clicking one – such as ‘Eat and drink’, ‘Special days’ and ‘Movies & TV’ – to find out what, if anything, Cortana has gleaned about you from your browsing habits. To clear all data click the ‘Clear Cortana button’, or you can remove info more selectively by clicking the ‘X’ next to specific entries (see screenshot below far left).
If you’re happy for Cortana to know more about you, you can add more detailed hobbies and interests. Click the Cortana search bar on your taskbar (next to the Start button), then the Notebook icon (see right-hand screenshot, bottom of page 51). Next, click a category to add specific details (the ‘Eat and drink’ category, for example, lets you choos which types of food you like, so that Bing searches will provide more relevant results).
If you’re concerned that Microsoft might pass on this information to other companies, click Connected Services (above the list of Categories in Notebook) and see which services Cortana shares information with. We allowed sharing with Outlook, for example, but blocked Microsoft Health by clicking its entry in the list of services, then clicking Disconnect.
The adverts you see and how you type
Microsoft uses all these sources of information – your location, your online searches and your chats with Cortana – to send you carefully tailored adverts on Microsoft’s website and apps (such as Mail and Solitaire for Windows 10). You can’t turn off adverts completely, but you can prevent Microsoft from using the info to send you adverts you’re more likely to be tempted by. Go to www. snipca.com/ 23268 and turn both sliders on the right to the Off position (see screenshot left).
To reinforce this restriction in Windows 10, click Start, Settings, then Privacy. Next, turn off the ‘Let apps use my
advertising ID for experiences across apps’ slider. While you’re here, we suggest you also switch off ‘Send Microsoft info about how I write to help it improve typing and writing in the future’ (see screenshot right). This stops Microsoft snooping on what you type, even though it claims to only use this information to help it understand the way you type.
Payment-card details and data
If you’ve ever bought a product from Microsoft’s Store (such as Office 365), a version of Windows or even just an app – then it probably has your payment details on file. Go to www.snipca.com/23269 (you may have to sign in) to see the payment-card details you’ve used to buy Microsoft products over the years. In light of recent high-profile hacks (against Yahoo and Talktalk to name just two) we suggest you delete all your payment-card details. After all, there’s no guarantee that Microsoft won’t be hacked in the future. To do so, click ‘Remove’ underneath each card (see screenshot below left), then the ‘Yes, remove’ confirmation.
Can Microsoft contact you?
Nobody wants to be bothered by sales calls and nuisance emails, but Microsoft probably has a free rein to bombard you with newsletters and offers. That’s because it has your email address, and quite probably your phone number and home address. What’s more, unless you were careful to untick various relevant tickboxes over the years it also has permission to contact you.
To check your contact settings go to www.snipca.com/23221 (you will be prompted to sign into your Microsoft account) and look at the Address, Phone and Email sections to see any subscriptions you’re currently signed up to.
To prevent Microsoft from contacting you, click ‘edit your preferences’ and untick any subscriptions, as well as the two tickboxes in the General Promotional Emails section. Next, tick the box next to ‘Do not send me any newsletters, subscriptions or general promotional emails (see screenshot below). Click Save. Bear in mind, it can take up to 48 hours for these changes to take effect.
Our scan found ‘Document Properties and Personal Information’ metadata, for example. To remove it, click Remove All (see screenshot right). Click Close, then save the document as normal to apply your changes.
Skype
It might be facing stiff competition from similar services, such as Google Duo and Facebook Messenger, but Skype remains a popular video-chat program. It’s also weighed down by default settings we’d suggest you change.
Before doing anything else you should turn off the setting that allows anyone to contact you via Skype, even if they aren’t among your contacts. Open Skype on your PC (sign in if prompted), click Tools, Options, then Privacy. Select ‘people in my Contact list only’ in the ‘Allow calls from’ section (see screenshot below). Use the same option for ‘Automatically receive video and share screens with’ and ‘Allow IMS from’ (so only people you know can send you text messages via Skype).
In this same menu you can also opt out of adverts tailored for you by unticking ‘Allow Microsoft targeted ads, including use of Skype profile age and gender’ (see screenshot below). Note, if you don’t see all the above options, click the ‘Show advanced options’ button.
Microsoft will also look to hoover up information on how you use Skype unless you tell it not to. To prevent this, click ‘Advanced settings’ in the Options menu, then untick the ‘Help improve Skype and other Microsoft products...’ box. While you’re here, untick ‘Show Skype watermark during calls’. This stops the Skype logo appearing when you’re videochatting.
Next, it’s worth checking how much of your personal information is shared with Skype. Go to www.snipca.com/23273 and sign in to see your Skype ‘Personal information’ screen. Adding your name, country and email address can be useful so that friends and family members can find you. However, we can’t, for example, justify why Skype needs to know your gender, or your mobile and home telephone numbers. click Save once your happy with the amount of information shared.
Finally, make sure that Skype isn’t holding any of your financial details by going to www.snipca.com/23274 (you might be prompted to sign in). Here you’ll see which payment cards you have registered with Skype. We’d suggest you delete any that are listed by clicking Delete on the right (see screenshot above). If you regularly add Skype credit, you can still do so in future. Just click no if you’re prompted to save your payment card details.
Microsoft collects samples of your voice (via the microphone), your typing patterns, and even your handwriting (if you use a touchscreen). The reason given is that this allows Windows – and Cortana in particular – to ‘know your voice and writing to make better suggestions for you’. Unless you have trouble typing and want to use your voice to control your PC, we’d switch this tracking off. To do that, click the Start button, then Settings, Privacy and ‘Speech, inking & typing’ (in the left-hand column). Click ‘Stop getting to know me’, then ‘Turn off’ to confirm (see screenshot).