A Dissection of Windows 10 Telemetry in relation to Privacy and Anonymity

As Operating Systems and Applications have evolved, the opportunity to collect a myriad of Software Diagnostic Data has increased. To facilitate the analysis of this information, "Telemetry" is employed by Software Manufacturers to collect the Data locally and transmit them to a Central location for examination. Microsoft is associated with the term Telemetry and has been portrayed as reticent when probed about the Data it is collecting on its End Users Equipment. With the recent enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Microsoft is keen to promote itself as transparent and has demonstrated this by publishing details of what is collecting, why it is being collected and how it can benefit the End User. We propose a thorough analysis of the Microsoft Windows 10 Telemetry process, to identify whether it is possible to recover either Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Sensitive Personal Information (SPI) locally from Disk, Memory or transmitted via Network Media to Microsoft. We also propose the creation of a "Telemetry Analysis Tool" (TAT) which will enable End Users to analyse the Data collected in an intuitive format.