When Windows recognizes that you are using it

With Windows Hello and other presence systems, Windows 11 can take care of logins, registrations, deregistrations, and other things completely independently. The OS now gets new options that allow fine tuning of sensor access.

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Windows 11 is getting new options for accessing the sensor

With a full suite of sensors, Windows can recognize if a user is currently active. In the latest update KB5025299, which brings Windows 11 to preview build 22624.1610, there are new options in the Data Protection settings that are intended to give the user more granular control over presence detection systems. Like the developers in Edit the blog post Writing, it will be possible to control exactly which applications have access to the sensor data.

Microsoft provides a simple definition of the “HumanPresenceSensor” class in their API documentation. This generally refers to all sensors that can detect “whether a user is present, absent, or not interacting with their device”. If the corresponding device is present in the device, the new Presence Sensing options can be found in the privacy settings with the new Insider update.

Videos about Windows 11

Microsoft allows here to restrict or allow access to sensor data generally. This is followed by the option that allows for precise settings based on individual applications. Application developers who deploy devices with compatible occupancy sensors must align their applications according to the new interfaces. Below this, Windows 11 lists all the activities through which a sensor was accessed.

Last but not least, Microsoft confirms that no data is sent to the company’s servers to provide presence detection under Windows 11. The company said about this process: “Microsoft does not collect images or metadata, and all processing takes place locally on the device’s hardware to maximize Privacy”.

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