Report: Windows Error Messages May Be Back Door For NSA Spying

You thought you were telling Microsoft about your crash, you may have been letting the NSA know

Error messages that pop up on Windows computers could enable the National Security Agency to spy on PC users, according to a report.

The error messages appear when a Windows programme stops working or 'freezes' and a computer user can choose to send an error report to Microsoft to highlight the problem, which is designed to help Microsoft engineers improve their products and fix bugs.

However, conscientious computer users might be sending reports to the NSA as well as the tech giant, a report by German magazine Der Spiegel suggests.