Of course, turning off updates has other drawbacks At this point I don't think you can realistically hope for privacy while also continuing to use Windows. Microsoft has jumped wholeheartedly into the business model of selling users' personal activity to the highest bidder.
You know, there's a new-age adage that goes like this: "if you're not paying for it, you're the product". Well, Microsoft DID give out Windows 10 licences to anyone with a valid license bought in almost the last ten years... That being said, personally I see it as a double-edged sword - on the one hand, yes, it's a huge privacy issue. On the other hand? Information is power - and (yes I know, this may be naive) it also gives Microsoft the tools to greatly improve customer experience. Because let's face it - there is no product like a custom-tailored product, and Microsoft may or may not have implemented the tools to give us a much more user-tailored Windows experience, and for that it may need a lot more information than a lot of people would be comfortable with at first.
I thought this video was quite relevant: it may need a lot more information than a lot of people would be comfortable with at first.
Or ever. The matter of consent remains central to this issue as far as I'm concerned, and MS has made it quite clear that the only way I can withhold my consent to my data being collected google-style (or worse, as far as my private files are concerned) is by not using their product.
I do not see the issue of consent as you say. We have it clearly - Microsoft offers functions but there's restrictions to it. They want your data in exchange for these services and functions. If you do not agree to it, stay on a previous version or find an alternative (which means either use OSX - which I'm pretty sure is as predatorial if not worse, data-wise - and the ecosystem is definitely more locked, or learn to use Linux). You can't have your cake and eat it too - you have the choice of buying or not the product and all that it entails. As for the "ever" - I also disagree. I can foresee that, if it goes well and if politics get un-fucked enough for the concerns of privacy to legitimately (and without fear of retribution or other negative actions) scale back for people to start being comfortable with it. The main problem lies in that there's organizations that can abuse it. But most likely, these organizations already have the info - all that it would do is keep it up to date. (As a side note, I just upgraded to Windows 10 and so far it's worth it)