Computers running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will send more user data to Microsoft after specific updates have been installed. Updates KB3068708, KB3022345, KB3075249 and KB3080149 were released earlier this week and come with the addition of customer experience and diagnostic telemetry.
Only KB3068708 is a recommended update, the others are optional. Data is only sent to Microsoft when users participate in the company's Customer Experience Improvement Program(CEIP) to which users with Microsoft Office installed are automatically enrolled.
Microsoft received a lot of criticism for the telemetry and tracking feature in Windows 10, but appears to have backported them now to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 as well. It's unclear exactly what data Microsoft is collecting especially because the company sends data over encrypted connections. This means attackers can't gain access to the data but that it's also not possible to see what data the company transfers.
Users that don't want to be tracked should disable the affected updates.
