Windows is Testing New Privacy Protections For Apps

Windows is making new app-level permissions such as location, camera, and microphone available to Windows Insiders users.

With this update, you can review and control access on an app-by-app basis, giving you greater visibility into which apps are requesting access to sensitive resources and more control over your privacy choices. Our goal is to make privacy permissions easier to understand and manage across the wide range of desktop apps people use every day.

Now with this new upcoming feature, you can individually grant or revoke access to each app.

This brings Windows more in line with other operating systems like iOS or Android that allow you to give or revoke permissions to apps individually.

It's important to note that Windows makes a distinction between "traditional" desktop apps: this feature already exists for some apps on Windows.

Windows has had a myriad of different app formats, several with some attempt at providing a similar type of permission feature.

Universal Windows Platform apps were an attempt at modernizing Windows software. They similarly required user permission to access things such as camera, microphone, and location. However, UWP apps are no longer being actively developed, although they will still work on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

There is also MSIX:

MSIX is the modern Windows app packaging format. It gives any Windows app a reliable, clean install and uninstall, automatic updates, and access to Windows platform features that require a package identity.

MSIX apps run in a container where they are isolated from the rest of the system and must be granted access to specific system resources.

Windows also offers Win32 app isolation, although this is a feature that's been stuck in preview for a long time, with the latest updates being all the way back in 2024. These are what Microsoft considers "traditional" desktop apps, with extensive access to your system. Win32 app isolation would put these apps in a "sandboxed environment" to provide additional security.

It's not clear how all of these app formats intersect with this new permission system or what the future of Win32 app isolation is in light of the new update.

Microsoft says existing app permissions will be preserved and apps that you previously granted access to a resource will continue to have access to it and apps you denied will continue to be denied.