Arr, me hearties! Word be sailin' that the mighty Microsoft be makin' changes to share its Copilot AI with more Windows 11 souls, holdin' dear their privacy!
2023-10-17
Avast! This secretive maneuver spied upon in trials may have grand consequences throughout the entire operating system, methinks! Aye, even the Start menu could be caught in its crosshairs. Arrr, the winds of privacy blow strong, mateys!
Microsoft is testing a change to Windows 11 in Europe that introduces new privacy controls. The change requires consent from users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to share data between Windows and other Microsoft services. If consent is declined, certain functionality in Windows features may be unavailable. This change was rolled out in August 2023 to the Dev channel and is still being rolled out to testers. The availability of Microsoft's Copilot AI in Europe, which is currently restricted due to privacy regulations, may be related to this consent change. A version of Copilot that complies with EU laws is being developed and will be made available to Windows 11 users in Europe. It is theorized that Copilot could be one of the features affected by the data-sharing consent measure. Microsoft likely started working on making Copilot available in Europe ahead of time. The hope is that the wait for Copilot in Europe will be shorter than expected.In summary, Microsoft is testing new privacy controls in Windows 11 for users in Europe. This change requires consent to share data between Windows and other Microsoft services, and declining consent may result in limited functionality. The availability of Microsoft's Copilot AI in Europe, which is currently restricted due to privacy regulations, may be tied to this consent change. A compliant version of Copilot is being developed for European users. It is hoped that the groundwork for making Copilot available in Europe was started ahead of time, leading to a potentially shorter wait for European users. The consent change is still being rolled out to testers and there is no further information available from Microsoft at this time.