Microsoft Flips Windows Backup On By Default Outside the EU
4 77Microsoft will turn on Windows settings backup and restore by default for eligible Windows 11 business devices outside the EU, starting with Windows 11 26H2. The Register reports: Now dubbed "Windows settings backup and restore," the service backs up a device's settings and a list of installed Microsoft Store apps, which can then be restored to a new device. Microsoft gave a use case for the technology: "Imagine a lost laptop, a hardware refresh, or an unexpected reset. These are some of the moments when your users need backup most. And that's rarely when anyone wants to discover that backup was never turned on."
However, some organizations might not want it on. Perhaps those with strict privacy or data sovereignty requirements, or those regulated by the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), for whom the default-on behavior won't apply. Windows 11 25H2 and earlier are also excluded, as is any device with a backup policy that explicitly disables the setting. Everything else running Windows 11 26H1 will get switched on after a feature update, and the same applies to 26H2, currently with Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel.
Administrators might reasonably be wary of this being opt-out rather than opt-in. Backups are useful, but Microsoft is clear that this is not a comprehensive backup solution, calling it only "one step in a broader Windows resiliency effort." The implications still need consideration. An opt-out setting that quietly ships settings data off-device is exactly the sort of thing that adds to administrators' workloads rather than lightening them.
4 comments
Re:There is no way your data doesn't make it into (Score: 5, Informative)
by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Tuesday July 07, 2026 @06:22PM (#66227478)
Did you even read TFS? It's a backup of the device settings and a list of installed Microsoft Store apps (which all competing app stores do anyway, otherwise they'd have no way of letting you restore previous purchases). Maybe this data has some marketing value, but they're not using it to train AI models.
Making it opt-in by default is shady, but IIRC, Apple has iOS's iCloud backup on by default (and quickly runs out of space and then nags you to subscribe to a paid tier). So, it's not exactly an unprecedented consumer-hostile behavior.
Can Microsoft touch your data inappropriately? (Score: 5, Funny)
by ebunga ( 95613 ) on Tuesday July 07, 2026 @06:07PM (#66227462)
Yes or Ask Again in Three Days
Re:Might be for fingerprinting (Score: 5, Informative)
by Himmy32 ( 650060 ) on Tuesday July 07, 2026 @07:08PM (#66227538)
The backups are going to be under a Microsoft user account which is already tied to device fingerprints [slashdot.org]. There's not much more fingerprinting to be done.
Opt-in vs opt-out (Score: 5, Insightful)
by PseudoThink ( 576121 ) on Tuesday July 07, 2026 @06:52PM (#66227510)
Opt-in is a backup. Opt-out is exfiltration.
I'm sure they've covered themselves from liability deep in a click-through EULA somewhere, though.