The updates are part of CEIP, Microsoft says

Sep 2, 2015 08:03 GMT  ·  By
Windows 7 users were concerned that Microsoft might be looking into their data
   Windows 7 users were concerned that Microsoft might be looking into their data

Microsoft is in the middle of another privacy saga, this time caused by the default settings in Windows 10, the company's latest operating system, which collects users' information and sends it back to its headquarters in order to further improve certain services.

But recently, accusations that Microsoft's spying on its users have moved to Windows 7 and 8.1, as a number of updates that the company released not long ago were believed to add a number of changes that allowed data collection on these two OS versions.

The four updates are KB3068708, KB3022345, KB3075249, and KB3080149, but according to Microsoft, they're part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program and are only offered as optional downloads to users participating in this initiative.

The company has told us in a statement that all these updates are supposed to help improve Windows 7 and 8.1 by collecting information, but they're not by any means shipped to users who aren't part of CEIP. And by joining the CEIP, users agree to share some info with Microsoft, according to the official terms.

“This KB was posted in May related to updates to the diagnostics service for Windows 7 & 8.1 systems that participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), which is an opt-in, optional program,” a company spokesperson has said when referring to KB3080149.

“Our use of CEIP data to help improve and diagnose Windows 7 and 8.1 products has not changed from what is described in the privacy statements for those versions of the operating system. For Windows 8.1, CEIP is described in the Feature Supplement in the ‘Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program’ section.”

CEIP terms of service

According to the official Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program terms, which were published on February 1, 2009, the company can collect “information about how our customers use Microsoft programs and about some of the problems they encounter. Microsoft uses this information to improve the products and features customers use most often and to help solve problems. Participation in the program is voluntary, and the end results are software improvements to better meet the needs of our customers.”

As you can see, the terms are very similar to those of the Windows Insider program, and the emphasis is clearly on “optional,” with Microsoft stating several times that no information is collected unless you participate in the program.

So here you are, if you're on Windows 7 or 8.1 and you're afraid of being tracked, rest assured. Unless you're part of CEIP, which pretty much means that you should already be aware of these things, you're on the safe side.