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Microsoft Will Never Again Sneakily Force Windows Downloads on Users (betanews.com)
A reader shares a report Windows users in Germany were particularly unimpressed when Microsoft forcibly downloaded many gigabytes of files to upgrade from Windows 7 and 8 to Windows 10. Having held out for 18 months, and losing its case twice, Microsoft has finally agreed to stop its nefarious tactics. After a lengthy battle with Germany's Baden-Wurtenberg consumer rights center, Microsoft made the announcement to avoid the continuation of legal action. A press release on the Baden-Wurtenberg website reveals that Microsoft has announced it will no longer download operating system files to users' computers without their permission: Microsoft will not download install files for new operating systems to a user system's hard disk without a user's consent. The consumer rights center hoped for this resolution to be reached much sooner, but Microsoft's decision will please the courts and could have a bearing on how the company acts in other countries.
Interfering with someone's computer without their permission is a criminal offence in Europe. In the UK it comes under the Computer Misuse Act. It just seems that no-one (other than, in Germany, the Baden-Wurtenberg consumer rights center) has the bottle to pursue this.
From this :-
CMA 1990 introduced the following three new offences into UK criminal law:
unauthorised access to computer material;
unauthorised access with intent to commit a further offence;
Unauthorised acts with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of computer, etc (as amended by the Police and Justice Act 2006).
I would consider converting Windows 7 to Windows 10 shows an intent to impair.