The Electronic Frontier Foundation has slammed Microsoft for blatantly disregarding users’ privacy and often misleading them to download apps and other services. It’s known to us that Microsoft had a voracious aim of making users use Windows 10 on their devices. With such an ambition, Windows 10 had deliberately pushed Windows 10 update to users and kind of compelling them to install the new OS. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has openly condemned the activity of the Redmond based tech giant and has jotted down some of the major faults by the company.
Many users have reported how they were forced to download Windows 10 on their computers. Even though there were several fake claims, but it’s not totally wrong to say that Microsoft has been staunch in deploying their new product. EFF has warned users of some important advice about Windows 10 and also suggested how Microsoft should ameliorate its operating system in order to comply with users’ choice.
1. Microsoft has intentionally disregarded users’ choice by continuously pushing notifications to update to Windows 10. There was no independence of the users to remove the Windows 10 download icon from the taskbar. Some roundabout methods were figured out later on by many to remove the Windows 10 download icon. But this nagging attitude had been vituperated by users and by EFF.
2. EFF has also criticized Microsoft for not maintaining users’ privacy. In order to improve their system, the company has sent huge data from users’ devices to Microsoft. The trouble with Windows 10 doesn’t end with forcing users to download the operating system. Windows 10 sends an unprecedented amount of usage data back to Microsoft, particularly if users opt in to “personalize” the software using the OS assistant called Cortana. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of data sent back: location data, text input, voice input, touch input, webpages you visit, and telemetry data regarding your general usage of your computer, including which programs you run and for how long.
EFF suggests that Microsoft should be more transparent with their policies and should deal user preference with due deference. Otherwise, the company may suffer backlash in the form of individual lawsuits, state attorney general investigations, and government investigations.
