The Brazilian federal prosecutor, Ministério Público Federal, has filed a civil lawsuit because it wants Microsoft to change the default installation of Windows 10. The prosecutor has asked a judge to force Microsoft to change the installation process of the company's latest operating system because it alleges that the current installation process violates several local laws.
One of the violated laws would be collection of data without the users 'express consent'. Microsoft currently collects all kinds of data from its Windows 10 users by default. The collected data contains, amongst others, location, email content, browse behavior and search history, according the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) on its website.
"The procedure violates innumerous constitutional principles, such as the privacy protection," according to the MPF. Therefore the MPF has asked the court to force Microsoft to stop with the automatic data collection without the user's consent. It also wants Microsoft to warn users and explain to users what happens with the data when they allow the collection of data, so users can better understand the consequences. The MPF also asked the court for a fine of $2.87 million for each day that the company doesn't adhere to the prosecutor's demands.
In a statement about the lawsuit, MPF also states that, "Microsoft was trying to increase profits on the back of the data collected by Windows 10, for instance by aiming targeted advertising at specific groups of consumers."
It also said that, "users were able to opt out of allowing Microsoft 10 to sweep up much of their personal information - but that installing it in that manner was "labor intensive and complex" for consumers, and that the software still collected some information."
