Guess what country sued Microsoft over abusive user data collection!

2 min. read

Published on April 28, 2018

published on April 28, 2018

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Microsoft is forced to change its default installation process for its beloved Windows 10. A court was asked by federal prosecutors to force the tech giant to take such a “humiliating” action because, according to them, the installation process of Windows 10 violates a bunch of local laws by collecting user data without users’ “express consent.” Are you wondering where could this have happened? Drumrolls…it’s in Brazil!

Microsoft faces criticism in the EU as well

The company was bullied with a lot of criticism regarding the installation settings of Windows 10 and users’ lack of control at least at the first sight of their personal data and how Microsoft processes their private info. Brazil’s federal prosecutors stated that the default setting for Brazilian customers when they installed the OS gave automatic approval for the company to gather user data including browsing and search histories, email content and location.

The federal prosecutors’ office in Sao Paolo stated that this procedure violates “innumerous constitutional principals” such as privacy protection. A civil lawsuit was filed against Microsoft to block Windows 10 from collecting user data without the user’s specific consent.

Prosecutors asked Microsoft to stop its automatic data collection

The prosecutors’ statement claimed that the company is trying to make more profits on the back of data collected from users for aiming targeted ads at specific consumer groups.

Prosecutors asked the company to terminate the process of collecting data automatically within 15 days and they are also demanding that the company includes alerts for consumers when they install the software to provide a more transparent process and a better understanding of the consequences triggered by the authorization of data transfer. They asked that Microsoft be fined $2.87 million for each day that the company doesn’t comply with their requests.

Microsoft is still waiting for the judge to issue a final ruling.

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More about the topics: microsoft, Windows 10 Privacy Guides

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.