What information does Windows 10 transmit?

Microsoft has made telemetry in Windows 10 more transparent with the April 2018 update. You can now view accurate diagnostic information, that your Windows computer sends to Microsoft. You can even remove it from Microsoft servers.

How to view diagnostic data

Windows 10 now lets you view detailed information about diagnostic and telemetry services sent to Microsoft, but you must enable data viewing before you can do so. It is disabled by default because it will require up to 1 GB of disk space to store data on a Windows computer.

To enable data viewing, go to section Options → Confidentiality → Diagnostics and reviews. Scroll down to section and flip the switch to the On position.

Click the button Diagnostic Data Viewer, which becomes available after activating the function, and you will be taken to the Microsoft store, where you should download and install the Diagnostic Data Viewer application.

After installing the application, you can either click the button Diagnostic Data Viewer again in the section Options → Confidentiality → Diagnostics and reviews to open it, or run Diagnostic Data Viewer via a shortcut in the Start menu.

Application Diagnostic Data Viewer provides a large number of diagnostic "events" in the left pane. You can click an event to view its details, including a complete copy of all the information sent to Microsoft.

You can also use the search field in the application to search for data related to the application or something else.

You can export this data to a comma separated value (CSV) file by clicking the button Export events to csv file on the sidebar. It is possible that in the future there will be utilities that will allow you to analyze this data yourself.

How to Limit Diagnostic Data Collection in Windows

By default, Windows 10 collects "full" diagnostic data and sends it to Microsoft. If you want Windows to collect less diagnostic data, you can go to Options → Confidentiality → Diagnostics and reviews and select Basic in the section Diagnostic data.

Windows will then send a minimal amount of diagnostic data to Microsoft. You can check this by opening Diagnostic Data Viewer and seeing how much less data is sent to Microsoft.

How to erase diagnostic data

Windows 10 now allows delete diagnostic data, collected on your PC from Microsoft servers. To do this, go to the section Options → Confidentiality → Diagnostics and reviews, scroll down to the section Delete diagnostic data and click the Remove button.

Privacy Dashboard

Microsoft is also offering a new privacy dashboard that shows all the personal information associated with your Microsoft account and allows you to delete it.

To use it, visit your dashboard and sign in with your Microsoft account. You can also follow the link Microsoft Account Portal In chapter Deleting diagnostic data.

You'll see options to view and delete Microsoft Edge browser history, Bing search history, Cortana voice activity, location history, and media activity (what music you listen to and watch videos). There are also options for telemetry data, including application and service usage history and application performance data.

You can also download your data if you need your own copy for any reason.

Typical software contains a huge number of settings and services that you can easily use. It's no longer a secret that... This process covers all areas of activity:

Installing new software.
Licenses for working with applications.
Queries in search engines.
Search queries inside Windows 10.
Preferences and desires in music and video.

Quite unpleasant news. The thing is that Windows 10 is very crude, which does not allow it to be sold to as many people as possible. To buy a product, you need a certain level of quality. Only high-quality improvements can bring it to this level. But a quick response about errors and shortcomings can only be obtained by monitoring the actions of users. So Windows 10 quietly collects data, simultaneously sending it to Microsoft. What remains for ordinary people? Fight, fight and fight again. So let's talk about how.

We cut down

The point of disabling is to close special Windows 10 services that are busy with this particular process. Of course, the developers do not like such a shutdown, since this is not what such services were created for. It is known that in the regular Windows 10 menu it is almost impossible to disable the ubiquitous collection of user personal data. The interaction interface is confusing and may not be useful to the typical user. But you can always go the systemic route, get under the hood of Windows 10 and solve the problem once and for all. In order to stop the operating system from collecting data, you need to open the registry settings. Namely:

First, open the Run window in the Start menu and enter regedit into it.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection

And if such a section does not exist, then you need to create it immediately. Now you also need to create a new 32-bit parameter called AllowTelemetry with the name DWORD, in which we put the value 0.

Now you need to disable some services from Windows 10. For these purposes, click on the Start button and right-click on Explorer and select the Control menu.

If you double-click on this service, its management window will appear, in which you need to check the Disabled item.

It is also useful to disable the DataCollectionPublishingService.

Disabling this service is carried out using a similar method.

Next, you only need to restart the Windows 10 operating system, and data collection will be stopped forever. Of course, the Windows 10 developers are trying very hard to help us. But they also try to learn as much as possible about our needs in order to offer any goods and services as best as possible. Everyone decides for themselves whether they need it or not, but in most cases they prefer to disable data collection.

This practice has long been used by Apple and Google. It was they who introduced the fashion for surveillance thanks to their staggering profits. Naturally, if this helps to make good money, then hardware and software manufacturers will implement these technologies as long as it is possible. Thank God that it is possible to disable these operating system functions. Don’t get lost if at first glance it is not possible to solve the problem. The Internet is full of information about different ways to overcome common problems. You just need to not be lazy. For example, in order not to buy a new computer, but to use modern applications, it’s quite simple. This simple solution is enough to save about 40 thousand rubles on new equipment. And most importantly, there are plenty of cunning moves, and they are all described in detail.

What kind of data is provided on the Internet requires another separate discussion. The web can not only provide useful information, but also collect data about people's behavior and preferences. So it’s better not to register your real data on electronic resources and social networks. This may be age, real first and last name, place of residence and completed educational institutions. Because you can easily become a puppet in someone else’s deft hands.

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Quite a lot of time has already passed since the release of the Windows 10 operating system. Many users have updated their computers to the new operating system, but have noticed a problem that the new Windows 10 is starting to collect telemetry, and in simple terms, Windows 10 is spying on users.

Windows 10 and telemetry collection

Data collection in Windows 10 was first discussed at the beginning of the release of test builds for insiders. Then users noticed that Windows 10 spies on users, collects all information and sends it to Microsoft servers. What kind of information does Windows 10 collect? At the moment it is unknown exactly. But judging by the published data from Microsoft, Windows at a minimum reports the applications used, installed on the computer, time spent using the Microsoft Edge browser, and voice information if you use Cortana.

In addition, if you use the default privacy settings, then in addition to the above, Microsoft will “own” your entire correspondence, and will also receive other extended information about your computer use. What kind of information this is, one can only guess.

What data does Windows 10 collect?

Of course, spying in Windows 10 can be called differently. It depends on the degree of “alarmism” of the person. Microsoft itself absolves itself of accusations of espionage, and connects the collection of telemetry with the constant improvement of the quality of applications and the personalization of Windows. If you use a Microsoft account, this data will be linked to it.

Microsoft is not the first corporation to collect data. For some reason, the “system” broke down on it, apparently due to an unsuccessful announcement of telemetry in the media, and when they began to openly accuse them of this, Microsoft was unable to respond.

Who besides Windows 10 collects user data?

It is worth remembering that Facebook or VKontakte, as well as Google Chrome, know much more about you. Telemetry collection is available in both Android and iPhone, but no one talks about it anymore. It is worth remembering that each of you has an account on your Android phone, and no one on the Internet is dissuading you from using it; on the contrary, Microsoft is accused of imposing its account.

Each person has the right to decide whether to use the Windows 10 operating system or not, as well as whether to agree to the collection of telemetry. In addition, some of the spying functionality can be disabled in Windows 10, but all spying functionality can only be disabled by adding Microsoft IP addresses to the block list at the routing level, not the operating system level.

You can disable most telemetry settings at the time of installing Windows 10. When the operating system shows you a window with the text Increase speed, instead of using the standard settings button, click the inconspicuous button on the left: settings settings. There you can disable settings such as automatic connection to WI-FI, advanced software usage information, block sending keyboard input, and so on. In principle, this is turned off at the very beginning. But remember, Windows 10 will still send telemetry, but in a limited way.

Disabling telemetry in Windows 10

You can also disable telemetry already in the installed Windows 10 operating system. This can be done in the Settings - Privacy window. In this menu you can disable almost all telemetry collection settings.

Then go to settings - accounts. If you are using a Microsoft account, select Use a local account.

I also recommend turning off all Microsoft related services if you want "so called privacy". In particular, we are talking about the built-in Windows Defender, which also collects some information about your PC usage.

To disable Defender in Windows 10 - Go to task manager - startup, find the entry associated with this application and click the disable button.

Remember that the most data is collected by Cortana, which will literally know everything about you. At the time of writing, she did not work in Russian-speaking countries, so there is nothing to worry about yet.

In general, don’t be foolish. If you decide to use Windows 10, be prepared for the fact that this operating system, like all services on the Internet, will collect information from the user to the maximum. If you've changed your privacy settings now, Microsoft may change them or re-enable them with a new update, as they did once before. True, according to them, it was a mistake. Want privacy? Use Windows 7, Windows 8.1 without an MS account, or as a last resort, use one of the Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu.

Operating system Windows 10 collects information about how users work on a computer. Handwriting samples and voice samples, location information, error reports, calendar contents - all this can be sent to Microsoft servers. This was done for one single purpose - improve system performance, make it more friendly and useful for a specific person.

However, many users are seriously worried about the fact that their personal information may be stored on some servers. Microsoft protection in theory can hack by hackers, access to confidential data may request intelligence services. If you don't want your OS to automatically send data to the server, you need to know how to disable snooping in Windows 10.

System installation

Most of the "spying" can be disabled directly during installation operating system (or upgrades from previous versions). During installation you will be prompted to increase your speed. On this page you need to open the “Settings” section and disable absolutely all options there.

Among these parameters will be determining location, sending voice and handwriting samples, data in calendar and contacts.

Perhaps in the future you will decide that one of them might be useful. You can always turn it back on in OS settings. If you have already installed Windows 10 without disabling anything, it’s okay. Everything is possible deactivate now, and at the same time delete all data stored on the server.

Voice assistant Cortana

Cortana is one of the most striking differences between Windows 10 and previous versions. This is an extremely useful program that can greatly facilitate and speed up your computer work.

And in order for Cortana to work as efficiently as possible, it must collect information about the user. If all this does not interest you, and you would like to disable statistics collection and spying, this can be easily done at any time:

After these steps the program Cortana will be disabled, and the typing log and all samples of your voice and handwriting will be cleared.

At the beginning of 2016, Cortana has not yet been implemented in the Russian version of Windows 10. Therefore, even with the settings enabled, data will not be sent anywhere.

Privacy Settings

After turning off Cortana, you can turn off other tracking options. To do this you need to do the following:

In the drop-down menu " Sending device data..."You need to select the item " Basic».

In this simple way, you can completely disable tracking and sending data to the Microsoft server.

Microsoft account and pre-installed apps

A single Microsoft account allows you to quickly log in to Windows 10 and various software from the developer. You don't have to enter your username and password V OneDrive, Skype, Word(if you use cloud technologies) and so on. In addition, this service provides access to the official Windows App Store.

Cons of the service - again, sending some data to the developer's servers. If this is not desirable for you, it is recommended to use local account.

The same applies to various programs that are installed along with the operating system. Web browser Edge, standard email client Mail, search system Bing- all these programs send statistics about their work. It's better to use third party alternatives.

If Edge you find it convenient and would like to continue working with it, it is recommended to configure it optimally:

Disabling telemetry

Telemetry- this is monitoring installed programs, measuring the load on computer components and then sending statistics. To completely disable this type of tracking, do the following:

After this, telemetry will be completely disabled. No information about the operation of your personal computer will be sent to Microsoft.

Programs

There are also special utilities that allow you to make all the above-described settings in just a couple of clicks.

Privacy Protector

From paid software, this is the program. The downside to manual settings is that when you update Windows 10, disabled options may reconnect without you noticing. Privacy Protector will block such actions, saving all settings. Therefore, if you want to solve a problem once and then forget about it, then the program, in this case, is the best solution.

As another option, you can download a free app from a popular IT website GitHub. To do this, go to the link https://github.com/10se1ucgo/DisableWinTracking/releases/ and click on the DisableWinTracking.exe file.

The program does not require installation and is ready to use immediately after downloading.

Working with it is very simple - you mark everything you want to disable and click Go! . Also, using the utility, you can remove various pre-installed applications that cannot be removed using conventional methods, for example, GrooveMusic or Xbox.