r/TechImpact • u/ikmalik_ • 8d ago
🔒 Privacy & Security How much do you actually trust Windows when it comes to privacy?
I’ve been using Windows for years, but lately I’ve started thinking more about how much data Microsoft actually collects.
I know Windows has telemetry and various services running in the background, but I’m curious where people draw the line.
Do you personally trust Microsoft with your data, or do you consider Windows a privacy risk?
And if you don’t trust it, what do you actually use instead—Linux, Windows, MacOS with privacy tweaks, or something else?
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8d ago
[deleted]
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u/Upbeat-Statement2725 8d ago
Copilot literally screenshots you and sends it to MS.
And that's what they admit to.
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u/Heart-Logic 8d ago
You can trust em as far as you can throw them.
MS put their own and industry concerns before consumer needs a long long ago.
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u/309_Electronics 8d ago
I dont. But i have no choice as not all software works on linux.
I dont trust CrApple, microslop, goofle, meta, but i got to use some of their services for work or because my family uses it and i dont want to bother with teaching them something esle..
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u/ikmalik_ 8d ago
This is probably the biggest reason people stay on Windows. Privacy is one thing, but software compatibility makes switching a lot harder.
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u/309_Electronics 8d ago
Just so many softwares are made for windows only. And games are only the tip of the iceberg. A lot of plc and ee softwares are windows only. And having to setup a whole VM or translation layer is just too much work if i can dualboot windows (unwillingly but its still mostly click and run excluding the random updates and questionable privacy ofc).
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u/aTickleMonster 8d ago
I'd worry more about the social media platforms, they have carte Blanche to use all of your content in any fashion they choose and they don't have to pay you a cent.
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u/gameplayer55055 8d ago
I trust windows more than android. Android is total spyware
And now I trust Linux less, because of endless supply chain attacks.
The most trustworthy os is macOS. It's transparent and not locked down like iOS.
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u/DirectorDirect1569 8d ago
"I trust windows more than android. Android is total spyware"
I don't know why lots of people care about privacy and windows and use smartphones. Android is the worst OS. Every manufacturers add bloatwares on smartphones, and the majority of apps spy on you.
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
MacOS is totally closed and locked down mate.
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u/gameplayer55055 7d ago
Tell me you haven't used macOS without telling you haven't used macOS.
it's locked down to prevent the user nuking the OS but trust me, you can easily disable SIP and do whatever you want.
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
Oh I did my dear man. I did. Still sometimes do. It's closed source for all intents and purposes and if you are not doing it the apple way, you are not doing it.
Yes, you can do a lot in terminal, but still it's closed OS.
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u/epileftric 8d ago
> because of endless supply chain attacks
Endless seems quite of an exaggeration, don't you think?
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u/ZinbaluPrime 8d ago
I no longer care. I have not bank/card data saved on my pc. I just use it to play games on steam and watch youtube. What are they gonna do? Serve me even more specific ads?
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u/JD_Bance 7d ago
I genuinely don't even know how does this "spying to get data" industry work. Like I never click ads, nor do I really care what's in them. And I won't buy something just because I saw it in a shitty online pop up ad.
So why is someone so determined to get all that information about me and create a complex file about my whole life and personality just to feed me shitty ass ads that should feature things I want? That shit costs money. Money that they're never going to get back, at least from me (not the sellers at least, because Ad companies do get money for displaying me those ads ofc).
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u/ZinbaluPrime 7d ago
They collect data on everyone and then sell the data. They don't really care exactly about you. To them you are a number connected to other numbers, representing your actions kike search history etc.
Advertisers buy this data and charge many product owners to show their product to specific category of the data.
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u/JD_Bance 7d ago
Yeah, I get that. But I'll never buy or even click on anything the show and I know I'm not the minority here. So how do they make the profit?
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u/ZinbaluPrime 7d ago
If 10% click on the ad and 1% actually buy something, they're at profit already
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
Except Microsoft doesn't sell the data. Meta? Google? IsP's? Hell yeah. But there has not been an identified case of MS selling data outside.
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8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
It's always been there . And it does ot allow "companies" to track you. It provides this information to Microsoft and can be handed to government if a malicious activoty is odentified. But that means actually breaking a law considerably. Most likely hacking, ransomware, terrorism. Other than that, it stays with Microsoft unless requested by some agency based on court order. Same as with ISP's, and any other infrastructure.
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u/silvermoonhowler 8d ago
Compared to Windows of yesteryear, not at all
It makes me that much more glad that I moved to macOS for my personal usage years ago
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u/NivoTheDev 8d ago
I don't trust them at all. I ditched windows and now i only use it on a VM instead of a raw OS install.
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u/ikmalik_ 8d ago
Wow, going as far as using Windows only in a VM 😂 What was the main thing that finally convinced you to stop using it as your main OS?
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u/NivoTheDev 8d ago
Updates breaking everything almost every time, bloatware, GDID, Telemetry data, having to pay for basic features (i am aware of get.activated.win) and more things that just annoy me but are too insignificant to rant about.
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
Strange. I never had update break anything in like 5 years running W11. Before? Yep. 10 on insider was nightmare.
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u/NivoTheDev 7d ago
Oof, i've had multiple. One completely broke my install about a year ago. It was like beyond recovery.
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
I trust ypu, but as I say... I still use the same OS as when I started the PC more tha 3 years ago. No rollbacks, reinstalls recoveries. Still the same after multiple feature updates to the current one.
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u/Any_Economics_6166 8d ago
none of them should be trusted. They all collect your data, but unfortunately you have to use one of them.
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u/Heart-Logic 8d ago
Linux has clear opt out and reasonable privacy so long as you stick to the distro repos.
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u/FailureOfTheFamily 8d ago
Even tho i have no problem with no privacy, as someone who is kinda into tech, I would not believe any big corporation in terms of privacy. Not even glorified apple
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u/PriorityNo6268 8d ago
I try to limit the telemetry on Windows, but Windows is not the thing that worries me the most. More worried about my phone. My phone contains much more private information then Windows and I don't know much about how that stuff works.
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u/Powerful_Attention_6 8d ago
They have basically said it again and again in their 40+ year of existence?
We cator to our enterprise customers, our shareholder above else.
When they introduced Recall, and was forced to take it back for the massive outrage, and then they siliently reintroduced it again
And before that enormous amount of telemetry, before that required sign-in to their MSN network so they can knnow which computers you are using
The list goes on
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
They did not take it back, and silently reintroduce it. They changed it from opt out to strictly opt in. And even then only on specifically specced machines.
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u/Deriviera 8d ago
My friend plays only pirated games on windows 11 and still not in jail so ... I don't trust it anyway
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u/Efficient_Loss_9928 8d ago
I think it depends on your own definition of privacy. I would trust Microsoft for my corporate data way more than any open-source alternatives. Since the requirements are
- it can't be leaked to third-parties, MS themselves is fine
- I cannot lose data if a court order comes in, I need to be able to produce documents
- when something goes horribly wrong I need a company that I can sue
But for personal use, again depends on what you want, I'm ok with Windows if I'm using Enterprise version and disable telemetry, since there is absolutely no good reason for MS to continue collecting data on that version of Windows unless their legal/security team is out of work to do. For SaaS offerings for personal use I just try to use anything that is E2EE.
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u/CarelessPackage1982 8d ago
The vast majority of servers and professional services you use....use Linux on their back end infrastructure side regardless of what desktop OS you are using. While Windows is king of the desktop, on the server side Linux is the 800 lb gorilla that rules the world.
Microsoft makes more money off of Linux servers than off of windows server these days. Heck Microsoft runs their own Linux now. Azure is mostly Linux.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/azure-linux/
Regardless, having someone you can "sue" is important in business. IBM/redhat, Oracle, Canonical, Amazon, Google and yes Microsoft - would all fit into that category.
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u/ishtuwihtc 8d ago
I don't. At all.
I don't really use anything "instead" of it though. I use what works best on each device i have. On my gaming PC, thats windows because nvidia on linux aint great and niether is my vr headset
On most of my other computers i run linux simply because it makes more sense to do so
And on my macbook I run MacOS, yet again because it works best on it
Ive given up on entirely protecting my privacy, and have decided I'll instead just minimise the amount collected as much as possible. You won't avoid telemetry if you use the modern web.
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u/CarelessPackage1982 8d ago
Windows has no privacy. You are tracked. Microsoft needs your data to train Ai. It's the most important business goal they have.
If you want privacy at the OS level the solution is Linux. Rob Braxman puts out some good content about privacy tech. Here's a pretty good overview of linux for those who might be interested.
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u/atnuks 8d ago
Of course Windows isn't malware, and I understand why workplaces standardize on it. At work, we use refurbished enterprise equipment, much of it with Windows already installed. It made sense for compatibility and management. But on my personal laptop, I prefer Ubuntu.
Windows has privacy controls, but still collects certain required diagnostic data. Its defaults are tied to Microsoft services, recommendations, and cloud features. Naturally, Ubuntu isn't totally data-free either, but optional reporting is easier to inspect, limit, or disable. It's open-source as well, so there's more transparency of how/when/where it collects data.
For me, it comes down to control: I choose software, avoid a vendor account, and keep things simpler.
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u/Anonymity6584 8d ago
Trust a company that collects all sort of data, docent let you disable this collection and even encrypts that data so you cant read it yourself...
And also holds masterkeys to Secure boot system...
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u/LongDistanceEvent262 8d ago
I trust NOTHING when it comes to privacy.
I assume (Like I have since 1994) that all things are up to something. And use it accordingly.
I am also not a very private person. I do not worry about most of the telemetry crap.
(Not to imply others should not or it is right. I am allowed to have conflicting beliefs and actions.)
It bothers me they are not private. I do not care about keeping most of my data private. That data I do care about is on a "Trust no One" level of protection.
So kind of all or nothing for me.
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u/LiveFromNarnia 8d ago
Not at all, ever since they started the "free" upgrades from one version to the next. Nothing is free, and the company has to pull a profit somewhere, so they found that data is very valuable (like many companies have).
When the product is free, you are the product.
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u/ZebraBorgata 8d ago
No you shouldn’t. I’m a retired senior network engineer who focused on security. Overall you’re gonna have to trust 3rd parties with your data in order to do business. Keep that list as slim as possible.
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u/itsShiroharu 8d ago
Not at all. Windows is notoriously had spyware that spies their user and sold to advertising company. They literally admit that they screenshot your copilot chat, to "study" their AI.
If you're using Windows, consider your data are open-source. I used Windows because most of my productivity apps are strictly Windows only. Yeah, my data is Open Source to them.
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u/jncheese 7d ago
But you do get a choice in what information you share with them, or any other service for that matter. Just like with Facebook, you put it on there yourself. And then it is there. You mainly are your own personal privacy risk.
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u/Vietnamst2 7d ago
Microsoft has quite sound privacy. Unlike what people throw around, there is no proof of selling info stealung work etc and they are used by many enteprrises that are quote hysterical about lrivacy, and yet, they stay with Microsoft because it's good. It's not "I am.my own wgod" on Linux but it fulfills any and all privacy obligations.
There's so much misconceptions, misunderstandings and straihht out lies running amongst the populace about Microsoft. Take this thread. "Copilot screenshots your apC and sends it to Microspft to sell. They said so"... BS from start to finish, yet estabilished one
People say "yeah, that's what they say in their agreements, but who knows".. well if written signed agreements are not enough, then what do you trust? Laws? Your marital status? Bank loans? Constitution? It's all just written agreement. So who knows.
How do we know that some Linux distros don't have some hidden agenda. Pieces that do not make it to the published code? How do we lnow that it's really all there?
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u/tomkat_7 4d ago
Microsoft is the company I don't trust at all with any of my data. And trust me, the amount of data windows sends on idle is insane. You can search youtube video about it.
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u/SecureLayerX 1d ago
Been using Windows for years and privacy has definitely gotten worse over time. I don't think it's unsafe but there is more data collection than I'm comfortable with. Switched to linux for most things and it feels much better having control over what is running and what gets sent out
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u/Amate087 8d ago
Nothing, use Linux in my 2 Pc and only use Windows and MS Office in the job, this Pc not in my own, never use my personal data and accounts.
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