As we reported some weeks ago, the upcoming Creators Update will introduce better privacy controls for consumers, improving the Out of Box experience along the way. The update should hopefully make Windows 10 an OS that all consumers can really trust, as unfortunately the built-in telemetry (which users can adjust but not completely turn off) has caused a lot of controversy over the past couple of years.
Yesterday, a new Reddit thread addressing a Windows 10 “keylogger” became a hot topic on the social network, with already 1,800 comments at the time of our writing (via The Daily Express). In the comments, many Reddit users complain about the standard Windows 10 privacy settings, especially a feature that tracks “your typing and handwriting info to improve typing and writing services” and is turned on by default.
While you could argue that this predictive text feature is not really a keylogger, nor is it really new, although the Reddit thread brings the subject to the forefront. Users who are concerned about it can easily turn it off. To do that, you’ll have to open Settings > Privacy > General and uncheck “”Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future.”
However, the real issue here seems to be that the feature can be turned back on in some cases. According to several comments on the thread, this could be the result of Windows updates which can change some of your setting without telling you anything. Reddit user wtfxstfu shared “Seriously, that’s some s***. I turn off everything on install. Just looked. It’s on. So dumb.” Another one nicknamed monedula added “Can confirm. also turned everything off at install, and this setting was on just now. This is evil.”
It’s not the first time that we see complaints about Windows 10 settings being changed after installing Windows 10 updates, and it’s not clear if the issue is affecting all users or if it will be fixed in the Creators Update. Have you already encountered this issue, and do you think Microsoft could do a better job with the various privacy settings on Windows 10? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
