Windows
This article will help you tame Window's privacy settings in order to mitigate what data gets sent to Microsoft. We will cover basic to advanced steps, some of which may disable features you might want to use. Finding the right balance is up to you !
Contents
- Tweak Windows 10 settings
- Use O&O ShutUp10
- Detach your Microsoft account
Tweak Windows 10 settings
Privacy settings
First, go take a look at the privacy section of your system settings. By default, Windows 10 associates an advertising ID to your user account to serve tailored ads. Location tracking is also used to serve tailored content.
This section allows you to disable this as well as a few other settings, and control which files and data your apps can access. You can safely turn off pretty much everything here. These are the most important settings you may want to turn off:
- In the general tab, disable the advertising ID, app lauch tracking, and suggested content if you don't like that.
- Switch to basic data in the diagnostics tab, and turn off "improve inking and typing" and "personalized experience".
- Disable the activity timeline if you don't use it.
- Finally, check app permissions for settings you may want to disable. Do note these settings only apply to the applications coming from the Microsoft store.
Learn more about Windows privacy settings.
Search settings
In the search section of Windows settings, disable cloud search and history if you're not interested in those. Also sign out of Cortana if you're using a Microsoft account or disable it if possible.
Use O&O ShutUp10
ShutUp10 is a tool that lets you toggle a boatload of privacy Windows settings normally not available to home users by using the registery. It is a simple portable app that can be downloaded and run immediately. You can automatically toggle recommended settings using the "action" menu, but I'd recommend going through the options manually. This will take a bit of time but is really worth the effort.
Detach your Microsoft account
When you install Windows, you're forced to create a Microsoft account by default. With this account account, Microsoft will collect information such as your contacts, credentials, settings, history, location and typing data, and a bunch more. If you're not interested in online Microsoft services and don't use OneDrive, you can safely detach your Microsoft account from your system by doing the following:
- Go to your account settings
- Under your account information, click on "use a local account instead"
- Create a new password for your local account
- Log out to finish
It is worth noting that recent Windows versions might bug you before the last step because of disk encryption. Basically, Windows now encrypts your disk by default to protect its content, even if it could cause data loss if you lose you Microsoft password. If prompted, simply add a pin in order to keep your disk encrypted, or disable disk encryption in the security settings.
If you don't want to detach your Microsoft account, at least take a look at Microsoft's privacy dashboard in order to control your data !