New video shows how much more data Windows 11 sends compared to older versions

Google showed everyone the way. They've been doing this for decades now, we all know about it, but we keep using it, so everyone else wants piece of the pie now, since there is no real pushback. Sure, they lost a few eyes to DuckDuckGo or whatever, but overall.. no one cares.

Same here, they will loose some numbers to Linux, but overall… no one cares.
 
Your data and habits and trends are big business. Everywhere you go and everything you look at online can be linked to you directly or indirectly.
 
You know how in the video, the guy tries going to that "research" site, and it's blocked by uBlock Origin?

If you install either Pihole or AdGuard Home on your network, this telemetry data isn't going to resolve anywhere and therefore won't be able to send any of this junk out from your machine.
 
mild-shock.gif
 
I'm currently reading this book by Oxford professor Carissa Veliz which talks about the data economy of user information and what steps can be taken to reduce your digital footprint. It's a little overwhelming with it's message of how large tech companies are bad for hoarding large amounts of personal data for nefarious purposes, but I would recommend that everybody should cut down if possible.

41Vvww4ChdL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg
 
I would also highly recommend anyone interested in data privacy run their devices through a service like Proton VPN. They even have a "netshield" option, that will block ads and things similar to Pihole or AdGuard.

The reason I mention Proton VPN specifically, is that they are 100% funded by users paying for their services. A lot of VPN companies are just as bad (or worse) than Microsoft is and will capture and sell your browsing habits.
 
Last edited:
If it is sending out data on a fresh install what info are they really getting?
 
I'm currently reading this book by Oxford professor Carissa Veliz which talks about the data economy of user information and what steps can be taken to reduce your digital footprint. It's a little overwhelming with it's message of how large tech companies are bad for hoarding large amounts of personal data for nefarious purposes, but I would recommend that everybody should cut down if possible.

41Vvww4ChdL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_ML2_.jpg
That's a good book, read it myself as well!
 
If it is sending out data on a fresh install what info are they really getting?
Microsoft's telemetry data has information about the device itself and how it's configured - CPU, memory, storage, GPU, etc. This is pretty similar to Steam's hardware survey, but the data is black boxed at Microsoft and not released publicly. So, at the very least, Microsoft is compiling data on which components are the most prevalent. The data also sends them info like system uptime, sleep settings and timings, etc.

Nothing world shattering if you don't have any documents stored on that PC, but still maybe data you wouldn't want to give to Microsoft.
 
So much hardware data shared with Ms...
And the damn MS Store sucks, the MS Defender lags pretty hard on your HDD/SSD and the windows update crashes now an then.
 
The hardware info must help with drivers, optimizations, eetc.
I think they use it as the snapshot to verify install. Although they never seem to enforce their rule on hardware changes and licenses anyway.
 
I just booted up an ebay refurb pc and it sucked up a few gigs worth of downloads and I never even completed the set up. I figure most of it was updates. Very little uploads though.
 
Huuuuhhh?
Microsoft's telemetry data has information about the device itself and how it's configured - CPU, memory, storage, GPU, etc. This is pretty similar to Steam's hardware survey, but the data is black boxed at Microsoft and not released publicly. So, at the very least, Microsoft is compiling data on which components are the most prevalent. The data also sends them info like system uptime, sleep settings and timings, etc.

Nothing world shattering if you don't have any documents stored on that PC, but still maybe data you wouldn't want to give to Microsoft.
 
So when I got a new laptop that came with Windows 11 and decided to make it a dedicated gaming device and continue to do all my normal browsing and file management on my old Win7 machine, I was on the right track? TBH I still haven't even logged into my Google account on it.

I'm not fully versed in the current state of this stuff but it's been in the back of my mind lately. I was considering obliterating Windows completely except for the one gaming laptop. If I'm gonna take the shift seriously though I wanna do my research and do the whole job in a swift coordinated fashion. And not like protect my privacy one way while blatantly giving it away the very next breath lol
 
How to disable?

There isn't really a way to disable everything. But you can use Chris Titus Debloat tool, to limit most of it.


Just open Powershell and run tis comand:

iwr -useb https://christitus.com/win | iex

This will open a program with several Windows 10/11 tweaks. One of them is to disable telemetry.

This is the Github page, with the source code, where people contribute to this tool. And where other people can see what it does and if it's safe.

 
There isn't really a way to disable everything. But you can use Chris Titus Debloat tool, to limit most of it.

[/URL]

Just open Powershell and run tis comand:

iwr -useb https://christitus.com/win | iex

This will open a program with several Windows 10/11 tweaks. One of them is to disable telemetry.

This is the Github page, with the source code, where people contribute to this tool. And where other people can see what it does and if it's safe.

[/URL]
Thanks.
 
If you don't pay for a product you are the product

I really wish I could pay a hundo or something for a Windows version without any of the freemium nightmare in it, no advertising services, no trying to default me to saving on their services rather than my local desktop, no telemetry using energy and battery life except where diagnostically necessary, an OS built for the user again.

Anyways I have NextDNS set up at my router level and it's eye opening how much is being sent out. Especially my Roku TV even while it's off. You can also block platform level tracking like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Roku etc.
 
Last edited:
If you don't pay for a product you are the product

I really wish I could pay a hundo or something for a Windows version without any of the freemium nightmare in it, no advertising services, no trying to default me to saving on their services rather than my local desktop, no telemetry using energy and battery life except where diagnostically necessary, an OS built for the user again.

Anyways I have NextDNS set up at my router level and it's eye opening how much is being sent out. Especially my Roku TV even while it's off. You can also block platform level tracking like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Roku etc.
NextDNS is great! I have a VPN service that does DNS blocking as well, otherwise I'd use NextDNS.
 
Were they not honest about their business model? Windows has been free since 10. What was their explanation for that? I thought it was pretty obvious that Windows was spyware at that point. Fortunately there are tools to get around it in some part, but you never really know for sure when they're constantly making updates. This is why I'm rooting for Steam OS and for Valve to make their Linux distro into a viable product outside of just being used for the Deck. We need to get away from this BS.
 
If you don't pay for a product you are the product

I really wish I could pay a hundo or something for a Windows version without any of the freemium nightmare in it, no advertising services, no trying to default me to saving on their services rather than my local desktop, no telemetry using energy and battery life except where diagnostically necessary, an OS built for the user again.

Anyways I have NextDNS set up at my router level and it's eye opening how much is being sent out. Especially my Roku TV even while it's off. You can also block platform level tracking like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Roku etc.
Use a PiHole to block all that.
 
There isn't really a way to disable everything. But you can use Chris Titus Debloat tool, to limit most of it.


Just open Powershell and run tis comand:

iwr -useb https://christitus.com/win | iex

This will open a program with several Windows 10/11 tweaks. One of them is to disable telemetry.

This is the Github page, with the source code, where people contribute to this tool. And where other people can see what it does and if it's safe.

this is amazing thank you. :D
 
Be careful of any windows debloaters you guys use. I didn't keep a restore point before using it on 10, and eventually I couldn't do security updates. My only option is a fresh install. My system still works fine otherwise
 
Top Bottom