[Edit by MrBrian on May 21, 2017: The subject of this topic is telemetry that Microsoft added after Windows 7 was released. Additional research can be found in the comments. Also see AskWoody Knowledge Base article 2952664: Telemetry in Win7/8.1 – KB2952664, KB2977759, KB2976978, & KB3150513.]
This from MrBrian: I am conducting Windows telemetry technical tests similar to Ed Bott’s tests [See the full post at: Care to join a Win7 snooping test?]