A recent concession Microsoft made in Windows 10 has won praise from a noted recent critic of the platform. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) offered cautious praise to Microsoft in an interview this week. Microsoft recently changed the way in which Windows 10 interacts with servers within an organization.
On Tuesday, the company announced a new optional setting that allows companies to reduce the amount of diagnostic data Windows 10 gathers. There is also a new online portal that allows customers to manage and select privacy settings on the platform.
Maul Kalia, legal intake coordinator for the EFF said “The changes were very welcome from our perspective … they were definitely needed.”
Microsoft has often been criticized over the way Windows 10 collects data. That platform collects huge amounts of information, ranging from programs running on a machine to details about crashes. Microsoft says the data is essential to improving the service and to maintain security.
EFF Criticism of Windows 10
However, while the company has always done this, on previous Windows versions, it could be disabled. All the data that the platform collects is analyzed by Microsoft, which has led the EFF to previously slam the company.
Kalia penned an editorial that took Microsoft to task and said “Microsoft Blatantly Disregards User Choice and Privacy”.
“The tactics Microsoft employed to get users of earlier versions of Windows to upgrade to Windows 10 went from annoying to downright malicious”. In June, a disgruntled Windows user created a petition for the EFF to investigate Microsoft.
This week, Microsoft has offered an affirmation of commitment to user privacy in Windows 10. In a blog post, the company said security is a chief component of Windows 10. To show this, the company debuted a new Privacy Dashboard and enhanced security settings for upgrading.
“These are solid and welcome steps, but we do still want the company to be more forthcoming.”
