If privacy of your data and files is to you as important as it is for me than the answer to the title question on Windows 7 and above is YES, clear and loud.
Let me explain: SpyBot Anti Beacon is a relatively new utility that can reliably turn off most of Windows 10's unwelcome behavior. Many others besides myself think of as being spied at. Whether Micro$oft calls this telemetry or whatever, I feel spied at.
If you want to know why I call Windows 10 a masterpiece of data collection and judge it's telemetry as for me unwanted spying please read this article originally written in October 2012 after Windows 8 was available. And I repeated the IMHO main reason in the context of Windows 10 quite recently.
If you want to try SB Anti Beacon (SBAB) please keep in mind this is professionally made but it is a FREE program; free as in free beer, that is you do not have to pay for it. This has consequences; not everything is as automatic as you might have come to expect from good programs. The main program window has four tabs for four different functions or info screens. I recommend to read the Frequently Asked Questions in tab #4 but will shortly describe what I do in tabs #1 and #2 (usage instructions).
In tab #1 I want ALL the entries to be green, that is all the spying turned off. So I just click the Immunize button at the bottom of the page.
In tab #2 I want as well all entries to be turned off but the page is differently organized. For every entry I have to click on the Apply button immediately above the entry. And especially on laptops and other (mainly smaller) wide screens I have to realize that in tab #2 the program windows has a scroll bar! I need to use it to uncover the last entry or entries on that tab's page.
Here are some visual examples from the only Windows 10 system I currently have available which happens to be a laptop:
Tab #1 BEFORE and AFTER "Immunize"
Tab #2 BEFORE and AFTER "Apply"
Just an hour ago I made an interesting observation: After installing updates from Windows Update I checked the Win 7 system I write this on and there was one new telemetry entry in each of the tabs. That shows that Micro$oft at least for now will keep bringing telemetry from Windows 10 back to Windows 7 and 8!
That is why I say to you: If you are willing to use SpyBot's Anti Beacon and to take on this additional check after EVERY update from Micro$oft (whether the updates were automatically applied or you checked and installed them manually) then you can rest fairly assured that Micro$oft will not collect data from your computer and about your computing habits.
As usual, stay safe.
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