Today (January 11, 2017), the FDPIC announced in a Media release announced that Microsoft would improve the transparency of Windows 10 data processing on the recommendation of the FDPIC.
In the clarification of the facts regarding the Windows 10 operating system that preceded the amicable settlement, the FDPIC criticized,
- that the privacy settings page was too difficult for users to find;
- That it was too cumbersome for users to find the relevant explanatory passages in the privacy statement when changing their privacy settings; and
- that users would not be sufficiently informed about the processing of their data (such as its storage period or the content of the browser data).
The recommendations of the FDPIC to make the settings page more informative and to specify the information on data processing will be implemented in the software releases of Windows 10 planned for 2017 worldwide. What the settings page is expected to look like can be found at here.
The FDPIC considers the agreement reached to be groundbreaking:
The FDPIC considers the solution achieved with Microsoft, in particular the direct link to the relevant passages of the privacy statement and the options, to be the minimum standard for applications and services of other companies. In future clarifications, the FDPIC will measure the data processing operations to be reviewed against the solution achieved.