While error reports are engineers to diagnose and effectively fix problems in a timely manner, they can also grant access to a range of personal data from hardware and software to usage. While Windows has always kept tabs on the location of systems using its software, Windows 10 has a habit of recording speech recognition and handwriting where applicable to better identify the user.Įven helpful features have been known to help create profiles of Windows 10 users. ‘Application telemetry’ and ‘activity history’ enable the company to track application usage, websites browsed and what files are accessed. Some of these efforts have received negative publicity since they debuted, such as Windows Customer Experience Improvement program and advertising IDs, but others are a lot less on-the-nose. It does this in the name of a more personalized experience, but this allows a single company to compile intricate profiles on numerous individuals. Microsoft has received a lot of criticism for turning Windows 10 into a service rather than a product, imposing very few limitations on the data it collects by default. Get W10Privacy Why do you need to customize privacy settings in Windows 10? W10Privacy allows users to disable or even uninstall Windows 10 applications at the click of a button. If it’s not already provided, like its OneNote cloud services, Xbox gaming application, Groove Music, Camera, and Maps, Microsoft is trying to sell it to you in the form of Office or its Windows App Store. Microsoft ships Windows 10 with a staggering amount of first-party applications. Disabling and Uninstalling Microsoft Applications Those that do use this option are recommended to keep on top of updates manually, rather than fall behind. Of course, this presents potential security risks as Microsoft will no longer be able to patch known vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, Windows 10 Home users are stuck with the built-in deferral, but Pro and Enterprise users can utilize W10Privacy allows users to disable Windows Update without diving into menus. In recent memory, Windows 10 updates have also posed a risk as users lost significant amounts of data due to errors on the publisher’s side. Microsoft has been lambasted for its forceful approach to updating Windows 10, with patches often catching users at inconvenient times. Disabling Windows Update on Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise This makes the selection significantly easier to browse, but it does seem a loss that there is no Search function to locate particular options quicker. These preferences are also sorted into categories, consisting of Privacy, Apps, Telemetry, Search, Network, Explorer, Services, Edge, Internet Explorer, OneDrive, Tasks, Tweaks, Firewall, Background-Apps, User-Apps, and System-Apps. The terminology isn’t the friendliest to users without experience, but W10Privacy elaborates and explains when the cursor hovers over the option. Restricted recommended settings are highlighted in red, and can potentially negatively impact the system if changed from their default state. Yellow, or amber, is conditionally recommended, requiring the user to look into the option they’re about to alter before confirming any changes. Using a traffic light structure, green means that the user can change the setting with almost no noticeable fallout beyond the loss of the option’s direct functionality. W10Privacy prides itself on being accessible to all color-coding recommended actions based on their side effects to the system. W10Privacy offers 316 options in total across 16 categories, consisting of Privacy, Apps, Telemetry, Search, Network, Explorer, Services, Edge, Internet Explorer, OneDrive, Tasks, Tweaks, Firewall, Background-Apps, User-Apps, and System-Apps. Microsoft’s default stance on data protection and collection has been questionable at best in recent years, leaving the user to sift through endless menus and complicated jargon manually to reach an acceptable level of privacy. Preferences are hidden within a plethora of drop-down menus that can often contain unfamiliar terminology and changing them can sometimes bring about unforeseen repercussions.įortunately, as recommended when touching the Registry Editor, W10Privacy automatically prompts the user to create a restore point which can then be used to reset changes should anything go wrong. While it’s possible to in Windows 10, traversing the Windows 10 Registry manually can often be a challenge for the casual user. Simply click "more info" to make the "Run" button appear. This is a false flag, as W10Privacy is perfectly harmless. Windows Defender often flags W10Privacy as unsafe and prompts you to cancel the download.
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