Windows 10 Can Share Your Wi-Fi Password With Facebook

Privacy symbol with digital globe, 3d renderThe new Microsoft Windows 10 operating system has a feature called “Wi-Fi Sense” that lets you share your network access with your Outlook and Skype contacts. It can also share your info with Facebook contacts, and some Windows 10 users have been thrown for a loop when a pop-up window displays that reads “Wi-Fi Sense needs permission to use your Facebook account.”

Of course, this kind of open access to your Internet connection could have potentially big privacy problems. There are a few safeguards; you need to agree to enable Wi-Fi Sense when you join a new network, your password will be encrypted, and anyone who gains access to your network will not be able to pass on that access. But there’s a pretty big catch: you can share any network as long as you access it by typing in a password. That means that users could share Wi-Fi access from many networks, not just their own, as long as they signed on one time.

And even though there are several security measures, many users simply agree to everything their computer asks them. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to turn off this invasive new feature. Simply go to Settings, click on “Network & Internet,” and then go to your Wi-Fi network. From there, you can select “Manage Wi-Fi Settings” and disable every Wi-Fi Sense feature.