Windows 10 Creators Update Continues To Refine Privacy Options
One of the biggest criticisms about Windows 10 was on how Microsoft handled privacy settings, which, in a nutshell, was done rather poorly. This was complicated by a subsequent update that, unknown to the user, suddenly changed previously set privacy settings. After receiving no small amount of backlash, not to mention government scrutiny, Microsoft has been more careful and more public about its privacy settings for Windows 10, something that fortunately continues to the Creators Update coming next week.
Microsoft's recommended privacy settings still defaults to "on" for everything. Some, like Location and Speech recognition, might be OK for most users. Others, like diagnostics and ads are sometimes a huge no-no. What's different in the Creators Update is the way Microsoft presents these details, or rather, the lack of them.
The privacy settings wizard for the Windows 10 update uses easy to read text to describe what each toggle is for. Those who want to go in-depth can click on a "Learn more" button, though chances are that will be mostly unused except by more knowledgeable and more conscious users. But perhaps more important that these, Microsoft also describes what you'll be missing out on when you disable those settings.
The privacy options page will show up in three different ways, depending on the context. For those already on Windows 10 who are just upgrading to the Creators Update, the options will appear in the updater app. Microsoft emphasizes that the actual options will reflect what you have previously set. It already learned the hard way not to mess around with that.
For those installing Windows 10 for the first time, direct to Creators Update, will be presented with a slightly similar screen but with slightly more verbose descriptions. The difference here is that users won't be able to proceed without either accepting Microsoft's defaults or changing the settings.
And finally, for Windows 10 Mobile (yes, those devices still exist), the privacy options will only appear after the update has already been installed. Thanks to the nature of Windows 10, almost all the options are identical, save for the "Tailored experiences", which doesn't exist on the mobile platform.
SOURCE: Microsoft