Windows 11 Privacy
NICE Windows computers are centrally configured not to synchronise user passwords through the Microsoft cloud.
The following privacy settings are recommended and set as default on NICE Windows 11 computers; they can be customised under Settings > Privacy.
| Privacy setting | Default value on NICE Windows 11 installations | Impact on privacy | Negative side-effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| General > Let apps use my advertising ID for experiences across apps | Off | Patterns in your behaviours will not be gathered or analysed for advertising purposes. | Ads that will still be shown, but they will not be personalised. History of the information related to your advertising ID will be lost. |
| Feedback & diagnostics > Send your device data to Microsoft | Basic | Required diagnostic data is information about your device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly. This is the minimum level of diagnostic data needed to help keep your device reliable, secure, and operating normally. Please see below for more details. | This setting interferes with the Windows Insider Program and may prohibit your from receiving Insider built updates. |
Users are advised to regularly check and configure which applications can use the camera, microphone and location information on their devices. In addition, users may be interested to consider:
| Privacy setting | Value | Impact on privacy | Negative side-effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speech, inking & typing > Getting to know you | Stop getting to know me | Information such as contacts, recent calendar events, speech and handwriting patterns and typing history will not be analysed or sent over the network. | Dictation and Cortana will be disabled; the OS will not be able to make suggestions based on your pronunciation or patterns in your typing. |
| General > Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future | Off | Information you type won't be used anymore | As for the previous setting, dictation and Cortana will be disabled; the OS will not be able to make suggestions based on your pronunciation or patterns in your typing. |
| Diagnostics and Feedback > Tailored Experiences | Off | Diagnostic data you send will not be used anymore to offer you a tailored MS Windows experience. | Microsoft will not offer you a tailored experience anymore by providing personalised tips, ads and so on. |
Required diagnostic data includes:
- Basic device data that helps provide an understanding about the types of Windows devices and the configurations and types of native and virtualized Windows Servers in the ecosystem. Examples include:
- Device attributes, such as camera resolution and display type
- Battery attributes, such as capacity and type
- Networking attributes, such as number of network adapters, speed of network adapters, mobile operator network, and IMEI number
- Processor and memory attributes, such as number of cores, architecture, speed, memory size, and firmware
- Virtualization attribute, such as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support and guest operating system
- Operating system attributes, such as Windows edition and virtualization state
- Storage attributes, such as number of drives, type, and size
- Quality metrics that helps provide an understanding about how the Connected User Experiences and diagnostic data component is functioning, including % of uploaded events, dropped events, blocked events, and the last upload time.
- Quality-related information that helps Microsoft develop a basic understanding of how a device and its operating system are performing. Some examples are the device characteristics of a Connected Standby device, the number of crashes or hangs, and app state change details, such as how much processor time and memory were used, and the total uptime for an app.
- Compatibility data that helps provide an understanding about which apps are installed on a device or virtual machine and identifies potential compatibility problems.
- System data that helps provide an understanding about whether a device meets the minimum requirements to upgrade to the next version of the operating system. System information includes the amount of memory, as well as information about the processor and BIOS.
- A list of accessory device data, such as printers or external storage devices, that are connected to Windows devices and whether these devices will function after upgrading to a new version of the operating system.
- Driver data that includes specific driver activity that’s meant to help figure out whether apps and devices will function after upgrading to a new version of the operating system. This can help to determine blocking issues and then help Microsoft and our partners apply fixes and improvements.
- Information about how the Microsoft Store performs, including app downloads, installations, and updates. It also includes Microsoft Store launches, page views, suspend and resumes, and obtaining licenses.
Users interested in questions related to privacy are invited to check the following pages (external links):