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Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users More Control Over App Permissions (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the taking-steps dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The software giant has revealed that you'll get much more control over what apps are allowed to do with your device. Where you previously only had control over location sharing, the Fall Creators Update will ask you to grant permission before accessing all kinds of potentially sensitive hardware and software features. It'll ask to use your camera and microphone if you have a video recording app, for instance, or check before offering access to your calendar and contacts. You'll only get these prompts for apps installed after you move to the Fall Creators Update; you'll have to dive into your privacy settings to review permissions for apps you already have. Even so, it's an important boost to Windows' privacy security levels. Much as on phones, where fine-grained permissions are already fairly commonplace, you might not have to worry as much about malicious apps spamming your contacts or hijacking the camera.

11 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. MS still dreaming of winodws mobile by Dorianny · · Score: 2

    Of course this only applies to apps using the Universal Windows Platform UWP api. I don't know anyone not stuck with windows on a ARM using the windows app store

  2. Whatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft Operating Systems Privacy Software Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users More Control Over App Permissions

    What about Windows 10 giving users more control over OPERATING SYSTEM Permissions?

  3. That's not how it will work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How it will work, is, each app will ask for a buttload of permission for stuff you'd think it doesn't need, like a puzzle game asking for camera permissions, but the app will not run unless it gets those permissions, so most users will give up and grant every app all permissions, thus making the whole exercise pointless.

    1. Re:That's not how it will work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      True that. And MS is doing the same itself; today Windows version of Skype asked if it was ok to install a update (funny question itself, as I have disabled automatic update checks on it) and the dialog gave two options; Yes and Later. Pressing Later-button just closes the Skype immediately. Only way to bypass that dialog was to answer yes. Why not be honest that we give you no choice but do as we tell you or cry and do as we tell you? And if the MS did not try to make the Skype UI worse and more phone-like on every version, people might actually want to update it.

    2. Re:That's not how it will work by Seven+Spirals · · Score: 2

      This. That's exactly what I've noticed. The last time I used IOS and Android, neither will let you assign granular/discrete permissions. It's all or nothing. Interestingly, Blackberry 10 already has this feature. The commenter's statement turns out to be exactly what happened to the native Blackberry 10 applications. You can refuse to grant the app this or that permissions, and in turn it'll simply re-display the permissions dialog or rage-quit because you won't grant 100% of everything it asked for. I've used IOS, Android, and BB10. Now, I've gone back to Symbian on a phone that is incapable of installing apps. It's a Phillips Xenium and the battery life is about three weeks.

  4. Sticking with Windows 9 by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

    I'm not hearing good things about Windows 10, so I am sticking with Windows 9.

  5. Re:I can hear the cries already by coastwalker · · Score: 2

    Hey suckers you carry on using Apps and the rest of us over 50 will stick with conventional desktop applications. I imagine they already know when to start advertising funeral services to losers like you. At least for the moment Classic Shell hides all of these pieces of marketing malware in a drop-down menu that I have never bothered to explore. Though I have bothered to disable anything that they hook to in the settings. Enjoy your walled garden!

    --
    Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
  6. Clarification by XSportSeeker · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just so people know, this has nothing to do with regular Windows software, just Windows Store apps... which no one cares about.
    https://blogs.windows.com/wind...
    "Starting with the Fall Creators Update, we’re extending this experience to other device capabilities for apps you install through the Windows Store."

  7. I'd rather the headline be: by QuietLagoon · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Windows 10 Will Soon Give Users Complete Control Over Windows 10's Data Harvesting" But it's not. So I stuck with Windows 7 until I finish my migration to Linux.

  8. Re:I can hear the cries already by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't confuse hating change for worse with hating change in general.

  9. Re:I can hear the cries already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And? Kids lack knowledge, experience and wisdom. They have the least credibility out of anybody.