How To Tweak Windows 10 Privacy Settings / Video Guide

[trs96]

3-25-16 EDIT : See post #5 in this thread for an easier solution

Windows 10 Privacy Settings Video

Text File For editing the Hosts File

The first two and one half minutes goes through all of the basic settings that are very easy to turn
off with a simple toggle of a switch. The second half of the video goes through registry edits and other
more advanced techniques to completely opt out your Win 10 PC. It's a lot of info that goes by very
fast so pause the video where you need to and complete the steps shown, then resume. If you want
to download the video to your desktop you can watch it offline at a 720p resolution. Just click on the
arrow that looks like this ⬇ with a line under it on the top of the linked page on Google drive.

It would be nice if there were a simpler way to accomplish this or if MS would even be open about what
they are doing. 999 of 1000 people using Win 10 won't even know about any of this so I guess we're
lucky that this info is being shared on the internet. I believe that the registry edits shown will also
apply to Win 7 and 8/8.1 due to some updates recently that add the telemetry features to older
versions of the OS.

Credit to Jason ? (didn't state his last name) You can find his Youtube channel by searching "byte my bits" on youtube.com Here's a good article by ars technica on most of the basic Win 10 privacy fixes:

http://arstechnica.com/information-...-much-privacy-by-default-heres-how-to-fix-it/

 

[trs96]

March 2016 Update
​

There are now easier ways to get back your privacy when you use Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 as your OS.

Yes, MS has now even added all these wonderful Windows 10 features to 7 and 8.1 via software update.

If you watch this video by Britec09 he will show you all the various apps you can use to turn off or opt out of everything Microsoft is doing to mine your personal data.

[video=youtube_share;C162rumLRlY]http://youtu.be/C162rumLRlY[/video]

Here is another important video to show you how to completely disable Cortana via Group Policy.
You'll need to get the Group Policy Editor back by going here: http://drudger.deviantart.com/art/Add-GPEDIT-msc-215792914 Download button is on the top right side of the page. The video shows you all the steps needed to get it working on Windows 10 Home or Pro versions. Starts at the 7:40 point in the
video. http://youtu.be/rGggEh5o3vg?t=7m40s

Just turning it off via the switch does nothing to stop Cortana from running on your PC. Just open up
task manager and look to see that Cortana is always running. Eating up ram and CPU cycles.

[video=youtube_share;WqY2RCsm4tM]http://youtu.be/WqY2RCsm4tM[/video]

Google is also constantly tracking you online and mining your personal data as well. To remedy that I use the Iron browser on my CustoMac along with an extension called Ghostery. You can also use search engines like Duck Duck Go or Startpage if you don't want your search data collected.

Link to Iron Browser for Mac download. SRWare.net Iron for Mac Download page

Iron fortify your Mac and keep your personal data away from Google and MS.

From Wikipedia: SRWare Iron is a freeware web browser, and an implementation of Chromium by SRWare of Germany. It primarily aims to eliminate usage tracking and other privacy-compromising functionality that the Google Chrome browser includes.

If you want to avoid the Edge browser altogether when you use Windows 10 there is an up to date
version of Iron for that you can get here :

Iron version 48 for Windows

UPDATE: One more option ~ Use OS 11

What is OS 11 ? It's for people who like windows but hate all the security and privacy issues and would rather not have to deal with them at all. See this video to learn more about it.
http://youtu.be/fzDKo4cLlMM

 

[Going Bald]

Looks handy - someone has already done your research for you.

Is the Iron browser better/worse/same as FireFox?

I removed the Google, Bing, Yahoo and other tracking search engines in favor of IxQuick a long time ago.

Start Page may say they do not track and they remove all identifiable marks before submitting to Google, but I still have my doubts.

 

[trs96]

Is the Iron browser better/worse/same as FireFox?

Technically it is Chromium or Google Chrome based. You can install extensions from
the Play store just like with Google Chrome. I like it better than Firefox. Seems to perform
better in everyday, internet surfing use. Just personal preference. Give it a try and see
what you think.

 

[trs96]

UPDATE 3-25-16

This may be the simplest and most effective way to get your privacy back
when using Windows as your OS.

https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/

 

[MatrixMorpheus]

I suggest also "skynet control", a program that disable the connections from your pc to microsoft servers. It gives 99% protection

 

[Going Bald]

I suggest also "skynet control", a program that disable the connections from your pc to microsoft servers. It gives 99% protection

You have a link? Wasn't Skynet Control the computer taking over the world in movie Terminator?