But that view is a little overblown.
Thats not to say all of those configs are good, just that theres very little new happening here.
You canread the privacy statement for Windows 10 here.
General Privacy prefs
Lets start with the obvious.
Open up Windows 10s controls app and head to Privacy > General.
you might safely turn this off without it really affecting your user experience.
Google Chrome does this as well.
I think this is a helpful setting, so I leave it on.
you might turn it off if you so desire, but be careful when you browse.
Thats very broad, and well talk about it more in a bit.
I recommend turning this off.
In short, most people can probably turn off these configs and not be affected.
Head to parameters > Privacy Location and look at the list of apps at the bottom.
(Note that location must be on for Cortana to work.)
Thats a lot of stuff!
To do so, here are the tweaks you should change:
Turn Cortana Off.
Bring up the Start menu and start typing.
punch the notebook icon in the left sidebar and choose options.
From there, you’re able to turn off Cortana.
Search online and include web results.
When you turn off Cortana, youll see this option appear.
Getting to Know You.
Just hit the Stop Getting to Know Me button to turn it off.
Microsoft does not collect any personal information via inking or typing.
Youll find them in Edges prefs > Advanced prefs.
Heres what they do:
Have Cortana assist me in Microsoft Edge.
you’ve got the option to turn this feature off in Edges advanced options.
Show search suggestions as I punch in.
Help protect me from malicious sites and downloads with SmartScreen Filter.
However, that also means they can share your web connection withtheirfriends, and so on.
Correction: Your friend cannot share your networks with their friends.
This actually makes itmoresecure than giving them your Wi-Fi password.
Most of this process is opt-in, so you shouldnt have much to worry about.
Primarily:
Sync prefs.
you could turn this off here.
Bitlocker Encryption.Encrypting your hard drive is a must-do,and Bitlocker finally comes with all versions of Windows 10.
Just choose Sign in with a local account instead.
This is done for security reasons, however, so we recommend you leave it on.
you’re free to alwaysdisable specific updatesif they cause problems.
Windows Update also uses BitTorrent-like peer-to-peer file sharing to distribute updates.
Just head to tweaks > Update & Security > Advanced Options > Choose How Update Are Delivered.
If youd rather it not bug you with such things, you could change it to Never.
you could change this to Full, Enhanced, or Basic.
you’re able to read more about what each of these tohere.
Microsoft doesnt let you turn off diagnostics completely, except on Enterprise versions of Windows.
So Whats the Problem?
So is Windows 10 the worst privacy killer in human history?
The Getting to Know You setting is particularly vague and problematic.
All of the options are opt-out instead of opt-in, and there are very many of them.
Most casual users will never even look at these tweaks.
However, at least Microsoft provides these toggles, which is at least a step in the right direction.
Thats not to say you shouldnt (or should) be concernedits a personal choice.
But youll have to give up a few features.
Title illustration by Jim Cooke.
