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Here's a link to Rock Paper Shotguns handy guide to shutting down some of
Windows 10 "Features" :
Windows 10 Is Spying On You: Here�s How To Stop It
For me, this isn't a reason to boycott, just a cautionary tale of how to turn off some of the more intrusive elements.
Windows 10 "Features" :
Windows 10 Is Spying On You: Here�s How To Stop It
For me, this isn't a reason to boycott, just a cautionary tale of how to turn off some of the more intrusive elements.
...How to opt out
OK, here�s how to take control of this stuff if you�re worried about it. No, opting out is not especially simple, although if you take an absolutist approach it doesn�t take at all long to set everything to �no.� If you�re yet to install Windows 10 and are concerned about all this stuff, you can head most of it off at the pass by declining Express settings and choosing options yourself, refusing any request to let the OS or apps access your location and turning the Cortana search assistant off. If you missed the boat there, you�ll need to do any and all of the following. Even if you were super-cautious during setup, be sure to follow step 3 below if you�re concerned.
1. Go to Settings � Privacy and go through the 13 different screens there and turn anything which concerns you to off. The biggest, most universal settings are under �General�, while the other screens let you choose which apps can and can�t access your calendar, messages, camera, mic, etcetera. There may well be stuff you want to leave on � for instance, I do actually want Windows� Calendar app to access my calendar data (obv), I just don�t want it to sell that data on because I don�t want to be bombarded with flower ads when it�s my mum�s birthday.
2. Depending on whether you�ve been finding it useful or not, you may want to go to Cortana�s settings and turn off everything there. It�s just working as a basic file search for me now, as I didn�t want its �suggestions�, I didn�t want it to lock me into Bing and I didn�t want a tiny part of my processor to be forever dedicated to listening out for voice commands I will never use.
3. This is the crucial one, and so fundamental to Windows 10�s tracking that Microsoft have stuck the setting on an external website, which they say is so that it�s on one easy dashboard, but I find it hard not to wonder if it�s in the hope that we don�t easily stumble across it while browsing Windows 10�s own Privacy menus. Said website is colourful and cheerful and can play a video at you talking about how wonderful targeted advertising is. Ignore the bumf and instead go directly here and set both options to Off. It�s the innocuous-sounding �Personalised ads wherever I use my Microsoft account� which is the likely root of all this, because having that on means Windows 10 itself becomes a hub for targeted ads. You�ll probably have set up Windows 10 with a Microsoft account, because it heavily encourages you to do so with talk of synchronised files and settings and a OneDrive cloud account during installation, but this means the OS is signed into that account all the time. As a result, Windows 10 itself has it spyglasses on, not just apps or pages that you�re signed into with your MS account.
I notice that every time I go back to that page, the �Personalised ads in this browser� setting has silently turned itself back on again. This is concerning, but I�m not yet sure if it�s a bug or if it�s exploiting sessions as an excuse to reset regularly. Judicious ad and cookie control with your plugins and browser options of choice can change this, however. Again, do remember that many websites are dependent on advertising revenue to survive, but opting out of targeted advertising � and having that opt out be respected � is another matter entirely.
4. You may also wish to remove your Microsoft account from Windows 10 and use a local account instead. This will double-down on restricting what�s harvested, though you�ll lose out on features such as settings synchronisation across all your PCs and will suffer more nagging from stuff like the Windows Store and OneDrive. Probably not a big deal for many people, I suspect. Go to Settings � Accounts � Your Account within Windows 10 (or just type �Accounts� into haha Cortana) to get to the relevant options.
If you have multiple PCs already running Windows 10 you�ll need to do all of this on each of them, although your Microsoft account opt-out should be universal...
OK, here�s how to take control of this stuff if you�re worried about it. No, opting out is not especially simple, although if you take an absolutist approach it doesn�t take at all long to set everything to �no.� If you�re yet to install Windows 10 and are concerned about all this stuff, you can head most of it off at the pass by declining Express settings and choosing options yourself, refusing any request to let the OS or apps access your location and turning the Cortana search assistant off. If you missed the boat there, you�ll need to do any and all of the following. Even if you were super-cautious during setup, be sure to follow step 3 below if you�re concerned.
1. Go to Settings � Privacy and go through the 13 different screens there and turn anything which concerns you to off. The biggest, most universal settings are under �General�, while the other screens let you choose which apps can and can�t access your calendar, messages, camera, mic, etcetera. There may well be stuff you want to leave on � for instance, I do actually want Windows� Calendar app to access my calendar data (obv), I just don�t want it to sell that data on because I don�t want to be bombarded with flower ads when it�s my mum�s birthday.
2. Depending on whether you�ve been finding it useful or not, you may want to go to Cortana�s settings and turn off everything there. It�s just working as a basic file search for me now, as I didn�t want its �suggestions�, I didn�t want it to lock me into Bing and I didn�t want a tiny part of my processor to be forever dedicated to listening out for voice commands I will never use.
3. This is the crucial one, and so fundamental to Windows 10�s tracking that Microsoft have stuck the setting on an external website, which they say is so that it�s on one easy dashboard, but I find it hard not to wonder if it�s in the hope that we don�t easily stumble across it while browsing Windows 10�s own Privacy menus. Said website is colourful and cheerful and can play a video at you talking about how wonderful targeted advertising is. Ignore the bumf and instead go directly here and set both options to Off. It�s the innocuous-sounding �Personalised ads wherever I use my Microsoft account� which is the likely root of all this, because having that on means Windows 10 itself becomes a hub for targeted ads. You�ll probably have set up Windows 10 with a Microsoft account, because it heavily encourages you to do so with talk of synchronised files and settings and a OneDrive cloud account during installation, but this means the OS is signed into that account all the time. As a result, Windows 10 itself has it spyglasses on, not just apps or pages that you�re signed into with your MS account.
I notice that every time I go back to that page, the �Personalised ads in this browser� setting has silently turned itself back on again. This is concerning, but I�m not yet sure if it�s a bug or if it�s exploiting sessions as an excuse to reset regularly. Judicious ad and cookie control with your plugins and browser options of choice can change this, however. Again, do remember that many websites are dependent on advertising revenue to survive, but opting out of targeted advertising � and having that opt out be respected � is another matter entirely.
4. You may also wish to remove your Microsoft account from Windows 10 and use a local account instead. This will double-down on restricting what�s harvested, though you�ll lose out on features such as settings synchronisation across all your PCs and will suffer more nagging from stuff like the Windows Store and OneDrive. Probably not a big deal for many people, I suspect. Go to Settings � Accounts � Your Account within Windows 10 (or just type �Accounts� into haha Cortana) to get to the relevant options.
If you have multiple PCs already running Windows 10 you�ll need to do all of this on each of them, although your Microsoft account opt-out should be universal...
Here is a link to the guide I used to create the Windows 10 USB boot:
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