Windows 8.1 Smart Search tracks all user searches and save it online

So, are you using the latest Windows 8.1 ? If Yes! then here is something you should know if you really care for your privacy. According to the recent reports by InfoWorld’s Woody Leonhard some of the new features in Windows 8.1 are really like those features for which Microsoft was criticizing Google in it’s “Scroogled” ads.

The most notable Scroogle-y change in Windows 8.1 is the new Smart Search feature which helps you to search everything on your computer and is powered by Bing Search Engine. But do you know that, by default Windows 8.1 records all your internal hard drive searches and send it online to Bing ? From where it can be sold in the markets for delivering relevant ads in Bing searches.

Leonhard writes that:

“Bing Smart Search works by snooping on the searches you perform on your Windows 8.1 computer (there’s no Smart Search in Windows 8),” “Windows watches as you run local searches. Unless you specifically, explicitly search for Settings or Files, Smart Search bundles up all of your search terms and sends them to Bing, along with whatever tracking information Windows has at hand.”

This is really an irritating thing for Windows 8.1 users. But thankfully there is an option to stop that. You can disable the Smart Search feature by just going to “PC Settings” and then on “Search and Apps menu,” from there you have to set the “Get search suggestions and Web results from Bing” option to the “Off” Position and you are done.

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