Windows 10 November Update build 10586

Microsoft has come clean about the action it recently took to pull the eagerly anticipated first major Windows 10 Update

According to Microsoft, the Windows 10 Update for November in its original form might have reset four important privacy settings back their original default settings, but without informing the user the changed had been applied

Concerns were raised when Microsoft initially de-listed the November update from the Media Creation Tool (MCT).

The MCT is one of the fastest and easiest ways to do perform a completely clean install of Windows 10 with the latest Windows 10 Updates already applied. Using the MCT to install Windows 10 also removed the sometime cumbersome and time consuming process of of having to download Windows 10 Updates after installing Windows 10.

Many Windows 10 users already circumspect of what Microsoft does and doesn’t in regards to user privacy, Microsoft are also keenly aware that any changes they make to privacy settings are being closely watched. Pulling the the Windows 10 November Update was probably a really smart move on their part.

The Windows 10 update has now been fully restored and users should now have had these particular privacy concerns firmly put to bed.

For those who are interested, the four settings in question were:

•     Let apps use my advertising ID,
•     Turn on SmartScreen Filter for web content,
•     Let apps run in the background and,
•     Sync with devices.

And for those people who may have already installed the November update (Version 1511),  before it got yanked, can check whether their privacy settings have been altered  by going to Settings, Privacy and then changing the following options:

•     Select General to adjust the advertising ID and SmartScreen Filter.
•     Select Other devices to adjust your Sync with devices settings.
•     Select Background apps to review the applications set to run in the background.