How are Microsoft meant to respond when there is no concrete accusations to begin with? It would be like trying to nail jello to the wall, they will say one thing and tons of people will claim that isn't what they're accusing Microsoft, and Microsoft is skirting the topic.
This whole thing started because three things happened at once:
- Cortona got released (with a bunch of privacy options, since they want to support the same functionality as Google Now, so email access, location, etc).
- Microsoft moved tons of privacy settings from previous versions of Windows into one unified location.
- Microsoft is trying to do continuous development so wanted analytics related to how people are using their software (so they know what to focus on).
The ironic thing, to me, is that Microsoft unlike Google/Apple/et al decided to put all of the privacy settings in a single location (the new Privacy category in settings), and it was THAT which really got them into trouble. If they had left the privacy settings scattered all over the place, I doubt we'd be discussing this right now.
Ultimately it is up the accusers to show what Microsoft is doing wrong. It isn't up to Microsoft to respond to vague hand waving and FUD. So far I am yet to see one shred of evidence that they do anything beyond what the privacy settings screens claim.