Is Microsoft really spying on you with Windows telemetry?

Some Windows customers are convinced that Microsoft's diagnostic data collection for Windows is a secret spy network. I've been investigating this topic for a decade. Here's what you need to know.

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Microsoft collects diagnostic data, aka telemetry, from every Windows PC.
• Some Windows customers are convinced, without evidence, that this is a form of spying. 
• If you're concerned, you can use a free utility to inspect this data for yourself.

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When Windows 10 was released in 2015, it was immediately controversial, with critics zeroing in on one feature in particular: telemetry.

I spent many months in those early days reading one article after another on the subject that read, in retrospect, like entries from the diary of a mad conspiracy theorist. As I wrote at the ...