Windows 10 - Privacy Settings

Mr. Analog · April 23, 2016, 06:09:35 PM

Did you know?

If you installed Windows 10 with the express installation settings (like I did) you may have missed this nasty little option that ensures Cortana is silently observing everything you do:

http://superuser.com/a/949946

Strangely even if you stop this the Cortana.exe will still be in memory taking up about 30 MB of nothing for no reason (yeah right). I have yet to find a way of disabling this without actually renaming the folder the exe lives in

Tom · April 24, 2016, 04:20:53 PM

New patches will also automatically re-enable all of those options when ever MS deems it necessary.

Mr. Analog · April 24, 2016, 04:29:41 PM

Quote from: Tom on April 24, 2016, 04:20:53 PM
New patches will also automatically re-enable all of those options when ever MS deems it necessary.

Fortunately unless they get rid of the registry somehow there will always be a way to cripple these things

Tom · April 24, 2016, 04:30:49 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 24, 2016, 04:29:41 PM
Quote from: Tom on April 24, 2016, 04:20:53 PM
New patches will also automatically re-enable all of those options when ever MS deems it necessary.

Fortunately unless they get rid of the registry somehow there will always be a way to cripple these things

As long as they don't keep renaming them, or actually just ignoring any user preferences.These kinds of statements used to be pure paranoia. Now its pretty standard for MS.

Mr. Analog · April 24, 2016, 04:31:58 PM

Quote from: Tom on April 24, 2016, 04:30:49 PM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 24, 2016, 04:29:41 PM
Quote from: Tom on April 24, 2016, 04:20:53 PM
New patches will also automatically re-enable all of those options when ever MS deems it necessary.

Fortunately unless they get rid of the registry somehow there will always be a way to cripple these things
As long as they don't keep renaming them, or actually just ignoring any user preferences.These kinds of statements used to be pure paranoia. Now its pretty standard for MS.

Like I say, the nice thing about MS is that it's unstable enough when it's working as intended

Mr. Analog · November 25, 2016, 11:02:34 AM

Surprise surprise (well not really) Microsoft shares Windows 10 telemetry data with third parties

http://betanews.com/2016/11/24/microsoft-shares-windows-10-telemetry-data-with-third-parties/

QuoteThere are three telemetry levels in Windows 10 -- Basic, Enhanced, and Full. It?s the Enhanced and Full settings which might accidentally snag personal or business information (via crash dumps), and Windows 10 Home and Pro are set to Full by default.

To check and change which telemetry level your copy of Windows 10 is set to, open Settings, search for "feedback" and open Feedback privacy settings. You can change the level under Diagnostic and usage data and also set the Feedback frequency to Never if you simply want to opt out.

Lazybones · November 25, 2016, 02:23:58 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 24, 2016, 04:31:58 PM
Like I say, the nice thing about MS is that it's unstable enough when it's working as intended

OSX working as intended because this is how we say it will work. You didn't need that feature anymore it is deprecated.

Linux it will work, after you fix it yourself, here is a hammer.

Mr. Analog · November 25, 2016, 02:36:03 PM

Overall my Windows 10 experience has been a good one with two exceptions

1. Automatic upgrade from 8.1 did not go smoothly on one of my machines (specifically lack of driver support - and of course I was on vacation when I decided to use it)

2. Non-essential software made "essential" (cortana, push advertising, telemetry gathering)

I've also noticed some apps appearing on my system (like Candy Crush) with a great deal of privacy features made accessible to them by default (good thing I don't use things like email / skype / edge)