Hi Rednose & Steven Winderlich,
Why one thinks it is that Windows 10 is offered as a free update then? Answer that basic question and you know some of the answers.
Throwing your computer or smartphone out of the window is no option of course. We see it is an opt-out situation only, so all that stay with the default settings will have these new privacy issues. We know the modern trends and MS is following the market of to-day - see what software bundlers do everyday.
For me the most annoying part is that the new technology will make it harder and harder to block personalised ads, but it isn't as bad yet as on a Google Chrome OS where you cannot use a decent adblocker even for your own protection against malvertising, and that is a real threat. When MS decides to go the same way as Google does then they are certainly crossing a line for me - they will hand in our security for their marketing model by selling insecurities as "features or benefits" & "awesome user friendliness". We always had this situation, this is nothing new in this world, only the technological means make it so much harder to circumvent.
polonus