Micro$oft violation

or you could just go into settings and disable the bits you don't want, or open the registry and change it or open policy editor in safe mode and implement lockdowns on anything you don't want ....

or you could look into exactly what those things are and figure out its way less intrusive to your life than apple or google is XD

yes and no,

if you have the pro version you can block anything you don't want through policy editor, if you have the free version you can block a lot of the stuff through settings or services just as you would do with older versions and other bits you can edit the registry to tweak here and there so it will work in much the same way as windows 7 but still look like windows 10, then there's the option to install a windows 7 desktop skin but that will likely cause you problems with getting updates, or stop working if updates get installed....

Cortana is as useful as siri, alexa or hey google, and more useful In some ways, I can access my pc by talking to Cortana, I can have her add things to my calendar or send text's /emails or ring people using voice commands, something that for me is useful, like last month when I fell over and couldn't get up, I was able to tell the computer to contact someone for help despite not being able to reach the phone or indeed the computer ..... yet aside from the training time of getting it working I barely bother with the features most of the time/

the problems with these things are mostly in peoples minds though as opposed to with the product themselves, most folks that make the complaint about ms products and intrusiveness don't make the same complaints about their iPhone or ipad or smart tv or set top box... all of which are worse, or their alexa system that literally monitors all sound 24/7/365 and records it on the remote server as library files and you cant turn it off without turning off the device .....

so complaining that ms is upfront about what its doing is rather dumb in comparison /

Still though...

I'm not really ecstatic about anything Micro$oft does, now that you mention it

Four things:
1. Disable/Delete the windows store.
2. Disable Windows update -for the immediate time -no need to update till several months later when the bugs are worked out.
3. Delete Cortana.
4. Install Classic Shell -instant Win 7 Start Menu feel.

which smart phone do you own, what brand of tablet do you use, which phone carrier do your mobile and landline with ? 

all of them have recorded your voice print, ever talked to an insurance company (or any sort) over the phone, they have your voice print, every used skype aim icq or other online chat /call program, they also have your voice print on file.... got one of those "smart" voice controlled devices, they store your voice print on their server as well....

what your talking about is a non issue that seems to crop up a lot, MS tell you what its doing upfront, everyone else hides it in legal doubletalk within pages of the full EULA (often not the short version loaded into the device) 

if you think a new UI means its trying to indoctrinate you towards social media I feel sorry for you... unlike xp it doesn't even come with a full suite of "social" connection programs and web link buttons on the desktop straight from the factory....

just because it allows you to seamlessly login to multiple places time and again and permits you to link your login with various social media accounts doesn't mean its trying to indoctrinate you, that's a "feature upgrade" that the majority of consumers were requesting, aside for ma few forum accounts I don't even have any of that garbage and my w10 works just fine /

i'd also point out that your privacy doesn't get infringed upon by MS to anywhere near the degree it does by ABC (ADMT) APPLE and others and god help you if you use facebook services (or those they own and operate under different names) because not only does facebook claim ownership of all material published via its services but as part of the user agreement it claims IP rights over the originals and can charge you for using them elsewhere even if that be in the physical world ...... no doubt a plan they will capitalise on in the future....

some folks talk about privacy and how they value it then they buy electronic devices and use them without a care in the world, privacy and digital communications are diametrically opposed, everything you do online is tracked and monitored by at least 3 companies at all times no matter how clever you think your being, just powering up an internet connected device means someone is spying on you, your GPS system isn't accurate when you push the button because its seeing multiple satellites on the horizon and triangulating then loading the relevant map and pushing that display to the screen, (it doesn't have the processing power for that) the satellite simply is telling the device where it is, and its checking if the last update was accurate and if it the satellite has a free channel to provide constant  tracking data.... if not it gives you an out of range signal.... sometimes you will be driving around and magically loose track, what just happened was someone who's paying a monthly fee for the service kicked you offline by asserting higher priority than your free service .... so even your car is tracking your everymove.... of course busses trains street cameras cash machines and tills all track you (modern card readers and tills also require internet connection and have built in cameras)....

everything you do is watched by someone the only time this isn't true is if your in a thermally shielded, electronically shielded, unserviced bunker..... other than that its been a myth since the late 80's, the only thing that's changed materially since then is how good the tracking got and the number of ways you can be monitored ....

I don't give a single shit about Coortana. Delete in progress

I do not use a smart phone.
My land line is through phone cards.

Insurance companies only ever in person never over the phone.
Too horrible a connection for skype and the like- don't like that crap either.
I do not have no smart devices.

MS legal double talk is so full of holes that even swiss-cheese would get the Olympic gold.

I did not say that the UI is the cause of the indoctrination.
I said Windows 10 the OS is the indoctrination to social idiocy not the UI.
The UI is easily changed back to Windows 7 feel or even XP feel with classic shell.
It is the whole connect to this, connect to that, communicate with so and so, use mic to talk to whoever, connect via XBOX crap and a lot other crap.

Ah yes the feature upgrade.
I know something else that has a feature upgrade but they call it assimilation.
This seems a more slow indoctrination/assimilation.
More and more I see it.
On the smart phones on the computers...
Ask some one to have a conversation: "Lets talk about cars tomorrow."
The next thing they are on their phones chatting away.
Seldom to people look up interact with the real world -many have been pulled into the matrix already it seems.
Social media was perfect when set to forums and twitter.
Anymore than that is over kill.
Just think about what is the leading cause of wrecks on the roads of America:
Nope don't use ABC nor APPLE products.
Last I heard about was Ipod... Have no use for such a thing.
I got a MP3 CD player that works just fine.
Well some may not talk the talk and walk the walk but I do.
I research something before I buy.
Do not use GPS.
Do not use modern card readers either.
Again I don't use devices that want to be internet connection.
And if you want to pull Origin into this... let me just say that I order my games from third party in store never purchase through Origin and I always buy cash.
I only will ever input code -I never buy in such a program.
If EA wants to track me fine let them...after they go through three VPN's, three routers and 3 modems... and if they still want to find me...
Let them go to metropolis where my ISP is based and search through the millions of residents on servers in the ISP there just realize I live in one of nearly 30 smaller cities nearby.
Guess it explains why I don't do much online.
Already killed my google accounts.
And in that vein... I no longer log into Youtube since it became Googletube.
True.
Though I still think starting with a Faraday cage as a base is a good starting point.
Still the smaller the foot print the smaller the bulls-eye.
Like a fighter pilot looking to drop a bomb a 50 foot wide bulls-eye is easier to see than 10 inch one.