Windows 10 'Wi-Fi Sense' leaks info to strangers

'Wi-Fi Sense' is a feature built into the both the Windows 10 desktop and Windows Mobile operating systems. Wi-Fi Sense allows devices to automatically enable (and disable) Wi-Fi connection. It is advertised as a way of saving on mobile data costs alongside the following 'benefits':

Automatically connect you to open WiFi networks it knows about by crowdsourcing networks that other Windows Phone users have connected to. These are usually open WiFi hotspots that you see when you're out and about.

Automatically accept the terms of use on your behalf for networks that require it

Provide additional information on your behalf to networks that require it

Let you exchange WiFi network access with your Facebook friends, Outlook.com contacts or Skype contacts to give and get Internet access without seeing each other's WiFi network passwords

WiFi Sense uses your location to identify open networks near you that it knows about by crowdsourcing. By using WiFi Sense, you understand and agree that it will use your location.

The above 'benefits' may seem convenient for users but are, in actuality, dangerous. Automatically accepting terms of use without being granted the means or time to read them should be of particular concern to users.

'Wi-Fi Sense' should act as yet another reminder of the dangers of linking multiple social media accounts together. In doing so users hand over even more data and power to companies such as Facebook and Microsoft and leave themselves (by way of their personal data) incredibly vulnerable. Both companies have a history of data breaches and leakages for which there has been no recourse for the common user.

Even when 'Wi-Fi Sense' is disabled on a personal computer, anyone else connecting to the network could leak the password to their Facebook 'friends'.

All users are recommended to opt out of this feature for their own security. The best option is to change the SSID to include the tag "_optput" at the end.