Although the privacy aspect of Windows 10 has been under steady attack since the early days of the operating system it is in fact the one area of the OS with the most extensive and granular level of control compared to any other aspect of the operating system.
If you compare the number of settings pages and areas that can be modified, some even down to the app level, you will find 16 individual pages worth of settings to control privacy under these areas:
- General
- Location *
- Camera *
- Microphone *
- Notifications *
- Speech, inking & typing
- Account info *
- Contacts *
- Calendar *
- Call history *
- Email *
- Messaging *
- Radios *
- Other devices *
- Feedback & diagnostics
- Background apps *
As you can see above 13 out of 16 of the privacy related settings, those marked with an asterisk, can be controlled down to the app level in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.
That is a level of control that has never been available in past versions of Windows and I am not aware of any other services that give you that much control on a system/app level.
Yes, I know you can not turn off telemetry 100% however, there is a Basic setting that only sends data which is encrypted and anonymous. This minimal amount of data is used so Microsoft has enough information to help with errors that might occur on your system and to keep it up to date and secure.
The gallery will show you all of the Privacy Settings pages as they appear in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update which was released this week. All of the categories are self-explanatory.
