Inside Windows-Update

When you connect your computer to Microsofts website windowsupdate.com, you reveal a lot of information about your computer to Microsoft. This article shows bit for bit, which data is transferred to Redmond and what Microsoft could learn from it.

Six pages of this article are for free. You can buy the complete article as a PDF-file for Euro 0.60 (around about 60 US-Cent). Please use the button "Artikel Druck / Download" at the bottom of the page. In the right navigation bar you will find a link "Download Software". For Euro 4.90 (approx. 4.90 US-Dollar) you can download the analysis software for your own testing by following this link.

The privacy policy of Windows Update used to be simple. A large banner stating that everything was done "without sending any information to Microsoft" and the lack of suspicious network activity assured us that Microsoft valued our privacy. However, times have changed.

Newer versions of Windows Update send a significant amount of data to the Microsoft update server. Unfortunately, the exact content of the transmission and its relevance to the user's privacy have up to now not been disclosed. Fortunately, times are changing again. This article explains in detail which personal information Windows Update transmits to the Microsoft server.