There’s been much made about the information Microsoft collects and uses for its own purposes. It’s really come to “light” with the push of Windows 10 upgrades and Microsoft’s inability to communicate anything effectively.
Here’s my take on the whole matter: Microsoft finally did what my mother always told me not to. (“If EVERYONE jumped off the bridge, would you have to?”) Oh sure, they’ve been collecting data on you all along. Just not as much and not as often. How do you think they knew how many machines were running what operating system and what kind of machine it was?
However, if the “new revelations” about the data Microsoft is collecting on you just scare you silly; I suggest you:
- close that Chrome Browser,
- deactivate your GMail,
- shut down your
- Facebook account,
- Instagram,
- SnapChat,
- Twitter,
- remove iTunes,
- and shut down your iCloud account
Although from a “selling you out” and “invading your privacy” standpoint, the damage is already done.
Microsoft is not doing anything that the others aren’t already doing. None are completely transparent in what they do with the data. That’s a problem for anyone truly and deeply concerned about privacy.
Here’s my example. I’m not a Google fan. I was when they started out, but I became troubled with their revenue model. It bugs me. They rely almost entirely on advertising for revenue. That makes where I go, what I look at, click on and buy extremely attractive for collection — and that’s exactly what they do. Want to test it ? Look up anything you wouldn’t normally look for. See how long it takes the advertisements in Gmail or in the Chrome browser to change to what you just looked for. It’s creepy. I avoid their services. Now I still have an account because as a business, I need to be “everywhere” but I don’t use them for anything in my personal life.
I’m extremely sad that Microsoft has apparently “jumped on the bandwagon” but I am still more comfortable with them (or Apple for that matter) having my data than I am with Google.
There’s a couple of articles that are nice counterpoints. You can read more here: