Windows 10 Spying Controversy—Canadian Authorities Start Investigation

Windows 10 comes with some hard to believe terms and conditions with openly announcing how the OS will spy on its users — Now Canada is investigating into the issue.

Windows 10 has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. Apparently, it is the operating system’s data collection capability that has come under the hammer

Microsoft Releases Updates To Spy On Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 Users

Microsoft Denies Categorically:

Microsoft categorically stated that users are allowed to disable data collection function in Win10 whenever they want through the Setting screen (Go through this article to learn how to stop Windows 10 from spying on you). However, one cannot ignore the fact that Windows 10 comes with all the data collection features turned on-by-default. Now, this certainly is an issue of concern for some governments.
Canada’s Concerns:

For instance, Canada’s local authorities are enraged over this finding and want to look into the matter rather seriously that whether Win10 complies with the legislation of the country or not.

In this regard, MetroNews Canada reports that in this region software firms are required to seek users’ consent about services involving data collection and/or use of private details. The significance of users’ consent increases with the sensitivity of data collected.

Provided that Win10 gathers personal data such as name, address, keystrokes or typed words and voice commands, therefore, this operating system clearly falls into the ‘consent required’ category. Thus, Canadian authorities are now trying to evaluate whether or not the operating system breaches Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Are Users Oblivious or Ignorant?

According to Tobi Cohen, federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien’s spokeswoman, as of now there is no privacy violation complaint registered against Win10. Nevertheless, the related authorities are investigating the way this operating system uses private data of users and what sort of data is shared both with and without users’ consent. This poses a question… are the users of Win10 really aware about the issue at all? Conversely, are they simply ignorant that their private details might be getting transferred sans their permission?

Despite Rising Privacy Concerns, 75 Million Devices Running Windows 10

It is possible to disable the data collection feature in Win10 prior to installing the OS. Even if you decide to enable some of the features related to user privacy, a software license agreement from Microsoft clarifies everything regarding the way its tracking services operate.

It seems like Microsoft is being wrongly accused of breaching privacy laws. But, it is also true that Win10 can still collect the after tracking services in this OS have been disabled by the user manually. Therefore, the matter is not as simple and clear as it appears to be.

Canada is not the only country to question privacy issues related to Windows 10. In August 2015, Russian state agencies, lawyers and lawmakers demanded a ban on Windows 10 claiming that the OS spies on its users and infringes the Russian laws.

If you still don’t understand how Windows 10 is spying on its users, this dude has a beautiful song for better understanding.