Windows 10 slammed for invasive data collection

TORONTO — Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system has been praised for improving upon the flaws of its predecessor, but the company is facing widespread criticism for what some are calling invasive data collection.

Under its default privacy settings, Windows 10 tracks the way users type, what applications they use, their browsing history and other personal information.

Windows 10 also sends a weekly “activity update” on children’s web browsing and computer history to their parents. Some parents have publicly described receiving those emails from Microsoft as “creepy,” while others warn it could serve to humiliate teens at a vulnerable period in their lives.

Users have to actively turn off the features to stop the tracking.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has said it uses the information to improve its services, and insists the information is anonymized.

Some experts argue that personal information is the new currency of the digital age, and the track-everything default settings of Microsoft’s latest operating system are the new normal for digital privacy.

The company is hardly alone in using personal data to track its users, technology analyst Carmi Levy points out.

“Most people see a free service like Facebook or Twitter and they assume that it has absolutely no strings attached,” he said.

Microsoft is offering Windows 10 as a no-cost upgrade for many of its users, yet Levy says there’s no such thing as a free launch.

“We pay with our data, we pay with our personal information,” he said, adding most tracking is benign and can improve the user experience by remembering individualized settings or passwords.

Google uses the search terms of its users to provide autocorrect suggestions for those with sloppy fingers, and many websites simplify the sign-on process by allowing you to log in with your own social media accounts.

Yet personal data can be used for more commercial purposes, and Levy said users are simply pawns in the mammoth world of online advertising.

Ad networks use personal information to track viewing and spending habits across a wide variety of websites, so someone who searches for the latest in denim styles will soon see ads for ripped jeans wherever they browse.