Windows 10 telemetry services continue to be the subject of much discussion about end-user privacy.
Although the Microsoft has reportedly updated its telemetry practices in Windows 10 to improve privacy and transparency for its data collection process, observers from around the world continue to weigh in on the matter, instructing Microsoft on how to comply with their demands.
A recent analysis of telemetry services in Windows 10 conducted by the German Federal Office for Information Security, officially known as the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, or BSI for short, shows us how telemetry works in the operating system system.
BSI has tested the so-called Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) providers used by Microsoft to collect data at different telemetry levels in Windows 10.
The study reveals that the differences in data collection processes in Windows 10 Home are minimal, despite the two different levels of Full and Basic telemetry. Microsoft seems to have access to a significantly increased amount of information. Note that in Windows 10 Home, users can only choose between basic and full telemetry levels.
The German Federal Office also inspected the IP addresses to which Windows 10 connects to send the information obtained from end users. Most servers are located in the United States, but there are servers in Ireland and the Netherlands.
Microsoft, of course, states that the information collected is used for the sole purpose of improving Windows 10, and that data transmitted to its servers is fully encrypted and securely stored without personal information.
You can read the whole report of BSI in English from here (PDF).
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