Everything you need to know about Windows 10 privacy settings

Microsoft's new Windows 10 system offers more personalization than before, but it also collects more data than people might be used to on PCs, from contacts and appointments to their physical location and even Wi-Fi passwords.
The information is used by Cortana, Microsoft's voice-activated digital assistant, and other new features that try to be helpful by remembering a user's likes and habits. Apple and Google have developed similar services for smartphones in recent years. Microsoft's new features are a big part of its strategy to make Windows more relevant in a world where people use multiple devices throughout the day.
Most of these features get turned on when you set up Windows 10 with the "Get going fast" option. But you can take back control and disable features in the settings. Here are some examples:
WI-FI WORRIES
A feature called Wi-Fi Sense promises to make it easy for users and their friends to connect with new Wi-Fi networks. It lets Windows 10 computers log in automatically to known networks, so your friends don't have to ask for the password when they visit.
Despite some initial reports, Wi-Fi Sense doesn't hand over your password to all your friends. Instead it stores your password online in an encrypted form. It then provides that encrypted code to your friend's Windows 10 device so it can automatically log into your network. Your friends never actually see the password, and Microsoft says your friends won't get access to other computers or files on the network.
Even so, critics say the feature shares too freely, as you can't choose which friends to share with - only with your full list of friends or contacts on Facebook, Outlook.com or Skype. To disable this, open the "Settings" menu in Windows 10, select "Network & Internet" and click on "Manage Wi-Fi Settings." You can uncheck groups you don't want to share with. You can also choose not to share access to a particular network when you log in for the first time; just uncheck the box next to "Share network with my contacts."
But if you let friends manually log into your network by giving them your password, be aware they might be able to share the password via Wi-Fi Sense with their friends. You can ask them not to, or completely block Wi-Fi Sense by changing your Wi-Fi network's name to include the underscore followed by these characters: optout.
CORTANA KNOWS YOU
Many people are used to voice-activated services like Apple's Siri or "OK Google" on smartphones and tablets. Windows 10 brings Microsoft's digital assistant, Cortana, to desktops and laptops. Cortana can answer questions, remind you of appointments and even recommend nearby restaurants. But to do that, Cortana uploads and saves information about your Web browsing, search queries and location, as well as some details from your messages, contacts and calendar.
Microsoft says it doesn't use the Cortana personalization to target ads. Nor will it use your emails, chats or personal files for advertising. But it does tailor ads to websites visited with its Edge browser and queries made on its Bing search engine, including queries through Cortana. (Google's browser and search engine do this, too.)
You can review what Cortana knows about you: Click on the search field in the lower left of your screen, then click the "Notebook" icon and select "About Me" to edit or delete individual items. If you want to turn Cortana off, open "Notebook," click on "Settings" and toggle Cortana to "Off." That clears information stored on the device, but not the data uploaded to Microsoft's servers. To get to that, open "Notebook," choose "Settings" and click "Manage what Cortana knows about me in the cloud."
MORE PRIVACY SETTINGS
Anyone concerned about privacy should take a run through the "Privacy" section of the Windows 10 "Settings" menu. This is different from the "Settings" menu for Cortana. You find it by clicking on the Windows icon in the lower left of your screen.
Windows 10 assigns each user on each device a unique "advertising ID," which lets app developers track how each person uses the device and apps. If that bothers you, you'll find the button to turn it off by going to "Settings" and opening the "Privacy" section. You might have to hit the back arrow at the top left if you're already in another section. Click on "General" in the left-hand column to turn off advertising ID. You might still get ads, but they won't be tailored to you.
Similarly, open "Privacy" and click on "Location" to turn off location-tracking or clear the history of where you've traveled with your laptop, tablet or Windows phone.
Another heading under "Privacy" has the innocuous title of "Other devices." That's where you can turn off the ability to "Sync with devices." That feature lets apps on your device share information with things like store-tracking beacons, which send you ads as you walk nearby. If that sounds creepy, turn it off.
Some critics complain that Microsoft hasn't been more up front about all the ways Windows 10 collects user information. But you can find most of them by scrolling through the nooks and crannies of the "Settings" menu. That's a good thing to do with any new software program or Internet service. It's also good to go back there from time to time to make sure the settings match your comfort level.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/windows-10-privacy-settings-worth-checking/1/462395.html

Microsoft APC 2015: Women in IT Panel - Quotas, meritocracy and the diversity dividend

Companies that have a higher ratio of female leaders tend to do much better in the workplace - gender diversity quotas need not clash with meritocracy.

Companies that have a higher ratio of female leaders tend to do much better in the workplace - diversity need not clash with meritocracy.
That was the general consensus of Microsoft APC 2015's Women In IT Breakfast, which saw Microsoft Australia MD, Pip Marlow; MOQDigital's CEO, Nicki Page, and Gartner distinguished analyst, Tiffani Bova, joined onstage by Bill Trestrail from Springboard Australia and MC Adam Spencer.
When describing the changes the IT industry has seen in the last few years, Page told the attendees that this had a lot to do with more women being involved - rather than them being left out.
Bova added that the reason IT is now broadening into the mainstream is because of the critical engagement in collaborative and disruptive initiatives by women.
"The new market is really giving women a chance to shine," she said.
Trestrail went further: "It'd be even better if there were more women involved already," he said.
Marlow believes that diversity is important because it produces a more diverse set of solutions to the market.
Page said that startups, that had a female head, had a 67 per cent better chance of success.
Trestrail also raised some interesting statistics: 22 per cent of start ups are begun by females, but only 4 per cent of funding comes their way.
Marlow took this back further, and said a critical problem globally is getting more young women involved in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Maths) at an early age. Biases in the education system mean that boys are favoured in these subjects - not just in terms of attendance, but unconscious bias by teachers.
"The fact is, we've got to make science and maths more exciting for women," she said.
Raising children is also another problem - many women feel that they cannot support a career and raise children simultaneously. This isn't just a cultural divide, but a structural one. For example, women that leave the workforce for long periods of time are losing out on superannuation.
Bova agrees with the cultural aspect, particularly media bias against women in power.
"When Marissa Mayer announced she was having twins, it was global news. They kept asking: 'How can she continue her career?' A man would never be asked that," she said.
Another big problem for women working their way up the career ladder is self-doubt, and 'imposter syndrome'. Page said she was uncomfortable initially in her role as Breeze CEO (now ASX listed MOQDigital), and didn't feel like she'd earned it.
"We women need to learn to back ourselves," she said.
Marlow agreed. "I had impostor syndrome for a while, i had this fear that someone would find out I couldn't do the job," she said.
"I felt like I had to earn it, but I definitely feel more comfortable about it now.
"Women generally tend to be more humble than men."
She also agreed with Page and Bova's sentiment about the media's cultural impact there, and how many times interviews had started with "as a woman..."
Trestrail said his institute has been working with coaching women in such issues, and to break down their roles and stand up for themselves as individual when making pitches.
"They struggle to talk about themselves, like men. They always talk about the team, or the company as a whole," he said. "Unfortunately, investors back the jockey, not the horse."
Bova said women don't lack the confidence. It was more about building confidence over time. "Look, men are raised by women. They raise confident men. We need to help raise confident women."
Bova believes that competitive sport, such as athletics were incredibly important when she was growing up, instilling confidence and competitiveness.
The panel agreed that the fact that most of Gen-Y have grown up on technology, especially women, means that it is a huge opportunity going missing - the application of skillsets and unique views is vital. Instead of looking at uniqueness as a negative differentiator, it should be seen as a positive.
Read more: Microsoft APC 2015: Gartner's Tiffani Bova - predicting the partner of 2020
"Whatever defines you as unique, maximise it. I got to this position because I was passionate," said Bova.
Marlow said this is not specifically a gender issue, but a merit based one.
"We need to build those environments where anyone can bring their experience to the table," she said.
Self-confidence is key, according to Page.
"You've got to ask yourself: 'What are you waiting for?' We need to do a better job of putting ourselves out there," she said.
A guest asked a question that summed it up rather succinctly - men are part of the problem. When women stand up and try to act in a similar manner they get shot down.
"I once was told I had too much confidence," she said.
Unconscious bias is a key problem. A recent Harvard Business Review study tested audience reaction to a report - identical, but swapping the name Howard to Heidi.
Both were rated as equally competent, but reviewers attributed more arrogance to the Heidi version.
Recent social media campaigns, such as "I look like an Engineer", aimed at helping break down these gender stereotypes, alongside A/NZ promotions such as offering superannuation to mothers on maternity leave, are starting to overcome the cultural and structural issues.
The final question Spencer put to the panel was related to female quotas for boards on the ASX Top 200.
"A recent report showed that there are more CEOs named Peter than there are females in total," he said.
Read more: Montech relists on ASX
Marlow was adamant that gender diversity and meritocracy are not mutually exclusive. All of the panellists agreed that quotas are a good idea to pull in the diversity dividend, and even reduce risk.
"Quotas are a good thing. Even if there are those that don't think the skill level is there, you grow into it, you're going to develop the skills. That's not to say the skills aren't there, its just to counter that argument that says we can't have quotas because we lose the skill level that we need," Trestrail said.
Marlow was more passionate. "I am tired of the conversation that says, when we have quota, we have an issue with meritocracy. It is ridiculous. There are just as many smart women in this world as there are smart men. Right now, the system, and we've already discussed a variety of different reasons why, has not supported women rising to the top," she said.
"Meritocracy is not an excuse. Sixty per cent of law graduates in this country are women. When you go to the boardroom, that is not reflected. It is not a pipeline issue. It is not a meritocracy issue. We have to drive targets and put quotas in place, in order to force changes in the system.
"As a CEO I have a quota for my contribution margin, my revenue growth, my market share, why wouldn't we do this? Because it just isn't good enough where we are. If someone wants to come to me and tell me I only got my job because of a quota, I'll prove them wrong by doing a great job.
"The rate of change is glacial and it's not right. My daughter deserves better."

IndiGo adjudged best low-cost airline in central Asia, Qatar Airways tops world ranking

Skytrax, the specialist research advisors to the air transport industry, recently declared the ranking for airlines and airports from across the world. Among the leading airlines in the world featured India's IndiGo Airlines, which was adjudged the best low-cost airline in central Asia.
The World's best airlines ranking, which was topped by the Qatar airways featured IndiGo at the 44th position. In addition to IndiGo, two other Indian airlines made the cut to the top 100 airlines list. While Jet Airways was ranked as the 76th best globally, SpiceJet featured at the 94th position in

According to a press release from Skytrax, "Indian low cost airline IndiGo was once again named as the Best Low Cost Airline in Central Asia/India at the 2015 Skytrax World Airline Awards in Paris."
The release further said that it is "the sixth time the New Delhi-based airline has been voted as the top low cost airline in this expansive region".
In addition to the ranking of the airlines, Skytrax also conducted a rating of the airports across the world wherein three from India featured in the top 100 list.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital, which was ranked 58, was followed closely by the Bengaluru Airport at the 64th position. The third entry from India was the Hyderabad Airport, ranked 70 in the list. Singapore Changi airport topped the ranking.