France drops Windows 10 privacy case after Microsoft changes telemetry settings

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From https://betanews.com/2017/06/30/france-drops-windows-10-privacy-case/:

‘There have been lots of complaints about invasion of privacy since the release of Windows 10. Microsoft’s telemetry lead to several lawsuits, including one from France’s National Data Protection Commission which said Windows 10 was collecting “excessive personal data” about users.

But now the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) has decided to drop its case against Microsoft. The commission is happy that sufficient steps have been taken to reduce the amount of data that is collected and users are now informed about data collection.’

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The English statement is at https://www.cnil.fr/en/windows-10-official-closure-formal-notice-procedure-served-microsoft-corporation.

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France’s reaction surprises me, frankly, but there are other groups with outstanding gripes.

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Interesting development, I wonder if that means to increase Privacy we should all run the infamous “N” versions of Win 10? If memory serves me right its stripped of Windows Media player.
While French wouldnt be a problem, setting the “Locale” to France would be, for me, a problem as I like the news round here rather than the happenings in Paris lol

A little bit light on just what they did to mollify the French. To my eyes seems much ado about nothing unless there’s more than they are saying. Ahh well looks like we are all stuck in “Snoop Cental” At least Ed Bott’s article gave some comfort in that he hasnt seen any of the M$’s Trove of Telemetry being used out there for commercial purposes. Yet! 🙂

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BobbyB wrote:

Interesting development, I wonder if that means to increase Privacy we should all run the infamous “N” versions of Win 10? If memory serves me right its stripped of Windows Media player. While French wouldnt be a problem, setting the “Locale” to France would be, for me, a problem as I like the news round here rather than the happenings in Paris lol A little bitf light on just what they did to mollify the French. To my eyes seems much ado about nothing unless there’s more than they are saying. Ahh well looks like we are all stuck in “Snoop Cental” At least Ed Bott’s article gave some comfort in that he hasnt seen any of the M$’s Trove of Telemetry being used out there for commercial purposes. Yet! 🙂

I’m “ordinarily resident” in Germany and have a local ISP.  I wonder if the M$FT changes which satisfied CNIL are automatically required to be applied  for the rest of EU users or if each country has to fight that same battle.  It shouldn’t matter what language version of Win10 is used….a user location in the EU should be the decisive factor.   If that’s the case it might make Win10 worth a try.

CNIL only lists phone numbers for inquiries on the English pages during Monday – Friday.  No email.

@Jan K;  Any comments?

HF

 

 

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From Microsoft Windows Blogs…

“In future updates, we will continue to refine our approach and implement your feedback about data collection and privacy controls. We are committed to helping ensure you have access to even more information and can review and delete data we collect via the Microsoft privacy dashboard”

There’s no need to “fight” Microsoft on a state-by-state base, as Microsoft is working towards meeting the privacy laws, that will be finally and fully enforced in EU by May 25. 2018… All software developers has had a couple of years to implement the law’s requirements, and Microsoft is of course aware on these.

The above quote may sound like Microsoft has a soft spot for their customers needs, but their “committed” will soon be a “required” and the “even more information” will be replaced with “all information”…

I have a small write-up of the laws, but would like to hear Woody’s comments and suggestions before posting it. On the way ™…

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I believe these changes are for all locations, not just the French. From Windows 10 privacy journey continues: more transparency and controls for you: “Aside from sharing new information to inform your choices, our teams have also worked diligently since the Anniversary Update to re-assess what data is strictly necessary at the Basic level to keep Windows 10 devices up to date and secure. We looked closely at how we use this diagnostic data and strengthened our commitment to minimize data collection at the Basic level. As a result, we have reduced the number of events collected and reduced, by about half, the volume of data we collect at the Basic level.” That link was mentioned in thread Microsoft’s newfound telemetry transparency with 1,966 basic data points.

 

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