Control over your data

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Hello,
Here, on this link, you can see, manage and possibly delete your data connected with your MS account. Its good to have control over your data.

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

PRUSA i3 MK3S+

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It’s too late if you have to delete your data from your Microsoft account on Microsoft’s servers.
It’s already been collected.
It’s already out of your control.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Alex5723, doriel

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Which is why it’s advised to do an ‘offline’ installation using an iso.
Gate open, horse gone..

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created IT- AE

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Microfix wrote:

Which is why it’s advised to do an ‘offline’ installation using an iso. Gate open, horse gone.

You might be barkin’ up the wrong tree, there.  I’ve never done an “offline” installation or upgrade, never had a Microsoft account as a user account on any machine.  I have four Microsoft accounts.  On all four, my data under the various categories looks like this:

“We don’t have any data associated with this Microsoft account at the moment.”

“We don’t have any data associated with this Microsoft account at the moment.”

“We don’t have any data associated with this Microsoft account at the moment.”

“We don’t have any data associated with this Microsoft account at the moment.”

“There’s nothing to see here yet. To add some interests in this category, open Cortana’s Notebook on your device.”

One of my Microsoft accounts is associated with my Windows Phone, so there is location data available.  It shows me all over town, which is not a big deal.  It’s a small town, and I’ve been driving the same Ford F150 for 18+ years, so my location is never much of a secret to my friends and neighbors.  Also can’t be of much use to advertisers in such a small town.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

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PKCano wrote:

It’s too late if you have to delete your data from your Microsoft account on Microsoft’s servers. It’s already been collected. It’s already out of your control.

Opting out of the collection of such data is the key, which is readily available in Windows 10.  Tic the “No” box.  If it’s never collected in the first place, Microsoft has none of one’s data.  A lot of telemetry control is right there in the UI.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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You may be able to opt-yourself out of data collection through Registry hacks, Group Policy, Firewall rules, not using Bing search, etc. But most people do not have your knowledge.

“Basic” still collects you information. There is no setting in the Settings App to opt-out of that. And Registry hacking is beyond most Home users who don’t have Group Policy either.

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PKCano wrote:

You may be able to opt-yourself out of data collection through Registry hacks, Group Policy, Firewall rules, not using Bing search, etc. But most people do not have your knowledge.

bbearren wrote:

I haven’t said that I don’t allow any telemetry. I said I control telemetry. I turn off lots of stuff in the UI under “Personalization”. I allow Windows error reporting. I allow Security telemetry. I allow reporting of malware infection information. I allow automatic app updates. I allow automatic Windows Updates (except drivers). I allow updates for Office. I use OneDrive. Of course I could be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, Microsoft does not collect identifiable personal information via telemetry.

The OOBE is where one can decline to share most anything with Microsoft.  It’s the same for everyone, whether Home or Pro.  Bing search is disabled in Services, not by editing the registry.  I do use Group Policy to block driver updates, and that isn’t available in Home, but that’s the extent of it.

My registry editing is primarily to get rid of unwanted “Features” such as Quick Access and Special Folders, and to move Program Files and Users to other drives and partitions.  I don’t expect anyone other than advanced users to undertake those maneuvers.

doriel wrote:

My data are mostly empty, since Windows respects my settings, I turned everything possible off.

Me too.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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PK and all — I read these posts today with particular interest.  Since about 1998, I have self-educated and tried to limit my data “sharing”  😉 with M$.  Group policy; internet options; declining all options I could on install of newer Win 10 versions; uninstall M$ store and its apps;  killing javascript on the desktop; not signing on to later versions w/ a M$ account; general use of non-M$ software for word processing, spreadsheets, photo edit, etc. etc.

…..

Today was the last day for my V 1909 Pro.  Win 10 is still there, on its own partition, if I need to reboot into it for any reason.  I plan on keeping it around for awhile.  And to the questioner who asked me Why, in a prior thread on this site:  Have you ever had a situation where software requires running M$?  I have.

…..

And this morning, I booted into my Linux Mint Cinnamon Ulyana, immediately did updates as I do each time, ~without~ much fear, at all, that they will trash my system.  I will get to forego the monthly chore of Net research to see if the community has had any probs. w/ this month’s updates; and of course searching AskWoody to see what its users say.  In Linux, I feel that I have significant control over my data; over what I want to share; all with worldwide Linux users’ eyes on the software every day, seeking and finding any bugs, and patching them pretty promptly — without any concern as to whether the changes will affect market share.  Linux:  ~It~just~works~

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My data are mostly empty, since Windows respects my settings, I turned everything possible off.
All they had collected is my history in Bing search, which is a basically log of my errors – when I launch applications I simply open Start menu and start typing, when I make a typo, it searches mey typo on the bing. For example I want to launch paintbrush, I type pbruh (typo) and it redirects me to Bing search in Edge.
Also, I do not use MS account for logging in my computer at work. So Im all good, my data are empty.

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

PRUSA i3 MK3S+

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bbearren

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doriel wrote:

My data are mostly empty, since Windows respects my settings, I turned everything possible off.

Same here.  I don’t use Bing, so that’s also a dead-end.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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This is a bit of a sledgehammer approach, since it also disables search history, but you can disable Bing searches by Enabling the following Group Policy, which doesn’t say that it disables Bing searches, but it does for some reason:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer > Turn off display of recent search entries in the File Explorer search box

You used to be able to just disable Bing without any side effects with a registry entry, but Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, removed that option with 2004.

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doriel

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OOBE allows a good bit of control over what is and is not shared with Microsoft.

Note the scroll bar on the right side of the second page.  Lots of “Off” settings available.

There is a way to get a second bite at these apples.  Leo A. Notenboom of ASK LEO! has the particulars.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

doriel

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bbearren wrote:

The OOBE is where one can decline to share most anything with Microsoft.

Many home users are afraid that saying no to sharing/telemetry will stop Windows 10 from functioning.

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