Windows 10 A free upgrade, paid for by your data - Tweak Windows 10 to protect your privacy

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Last updated:12/28/2015.

I've recently upgraded my Windows 8.1 laptop to Windows 10 and I have initially enjoyed its refreshed look and its high performance.

My honeymoon, though, ended abruptly after realizing the extent of the total privacy violation Microsoft has implemented with this operation.

Windows 10 contains numerous settings allowing Microsoft to collect a huge amount of information on your activity and, what's worse, on your network connection.

Some settings are pretty accessible, others are deeply hidden inside the OS, or require the user to flip through a bunch of windows to be disabled.

Such an invasive operation has never been attempted before.

The most threatening and deeply insecure feature is called Wi-Fi Sense and allows your contacts to access your network automatically without a password, with obvious concerns.

In fact, you could even be a friend of mine, but that doesn't mean I have to let you access my network and view my personal files. Even though you're my neighbor and we get along, you can't use my connection for you to do your stuff.

The foregoing are maybe the least alarming scenarios possibly resulting from this ill-advised feature.

Troubleshooting steps

• Public network issue: As a default, your network is setup as public, which is totally insecure and blocks functionalities like network printers, or P2P networks. You want to switch it to private network. For you to do this, left-click the Wi-Fi icon and choose Network Settings. Then select Advanced Options. Set Find Devices and Contents to On (by default, is on off). That done, your network will turn into a private network. 
• Settings/Privacy: Disable all settings in this section. Your screen should look like the below picture. In the Privacy settings there are numerous tabs (listed in the sidebar on the left in the below figure). I'm not showing all of them here, for time constraints, but you can check the excellent post Windows 10 privacy problems: Here’s how bad they are, and how to plug them. for more information. You want to go through all listed tabs and disable each individual settings. For you to disable Microsoft ads, click here 
• Location: Set it to Off. 
• Speech, inking, and typing: Disable the setting allowing Cortana to collect information about you by clicking  "Stop getting to know me". This will also disable Cortana and dictation. I don't personally use Windows and even less this functionality, because I find typing faster than yakking. Should you need Cortana, it's easy to revert the previous steps to enable it again. Having it running all the time is pointless, it only allows Windows to collect as much data on you as it can. I warmly recommend to refrain from using Edge and Cortana, whereas possible. Use Firefox, or Chrome, if you want built-in vocal search functionalities. Google isn't big on protecting your privacy either; European courts convicted Google numerous times for issues related to online privacy (in Europe you can't mess with privacy like you do here in the U.S.). 

• Wi-Fi Settings: From Settings, go to Network & Internet and then open Manage Wi-Fi Settings. Under Wi-Fi Sense, disable everything. To completely opt out of Wi-Fi Sense, you'd need to change your network name by adding "_optout"  to it. This is not an ideal solution, because it would give a potential attacker a free piece of information, (i.e. at least one Windows 10 client is present in that network).

Wrap-up

Windows 10 is a definite improvement over all previous Windows versions, but it comes at the expense of the users' privacy and security.

Microsoft, crushed by a dilemma between providing personalized services and protecting its users' privacy, looks to have chosen the former option, sacrificing the latter.

I appreciated the smooth user experience and the seamless integration between all services, but I don't like having a background voice yakking all the time, which collects all sorta data about myself and what I do on the Internet, while tracking my location.

I don't like Microsoft using my bandwidth for God knows what sort of activity, or having my contacts to freely access my Internet connection without my knowledge. I don't like Microsoft checking and monitoring all I do to form a pattern about me in order to display personalized ads, supposed to intrigue me (record this, too, dear bots, I'm not an easy target).

This is Orwell's Big Brother fantasy come true and, if you're willing to trade up your privacy for these whopping services (to do what? I don't really understand), I'm not.

Some religious fanatics would maybe think of the Revelation book and I don't know if they would be totally wrong in this case (no, I'm not a conspiracy theorist!).

I know there are other companies and operating systems doing the same, maybe in a sneakier way, but what Microsoft has done with Windows 10 is huge and unprecedented. 

Keeping my analysis strictly technical, I don't find vocal search necessarily to be a plus. I often had to repeat a sentence multiple times for Cortana to understand. With a text search, I'd surely have found what I needed much faster.

Cortana can be a little annoying, too, tending always to return Internet results when I want a local file, instead.

If you want a vocal search, it's already in your browser: Chrome. You don't need to install a whole operating system for that.

What I generally don't like about Windows is its tendency to make choices for you, sorta digital Big Brother.

I loved using Windows 10 but I'm really happy I don't need to rely on it as my main OS.

If you guys do use it as your main OS, you should tweak it like I explained you, if you care for your privacy and security (sound familiar? The good old Windows tweaking game. I'm really happy I've given up on this years ago), or consider more secure alternatives with a comparable performance, such as Linux.

Final considerations

If you ever wondered why Microsoft is releasing this upgrade for free, now you know why. True, you won't pay a dime for it, but be advised you're gonna trade up your identity, your information and, all in all, your privacy.

All will be registered by Microsoft digital police.

All your keystrokes, all your mouse patterns are going to be recorded. And, if you think I'm a paranoid conspiracy theorist, read through Windows 10 Terms of Service.

At the end of the day, I'm not a Windows user, and I utilize it very little (maybe less and less in the future), so I don't give a damn about it.

Sadly, though, most people around the world do and, as an IT professional, I feel the need to warn them: under a strictly technical perspective, Windows 10 is an amazing product, maybe the best operating system Microsoft has ever released (even though it sets up too many useless auto-starting crap services that you can't always disable completely).

However, it's a huge privacy threat, totally compromising your privacy and your security in the name of supplying tailor-made services. I believe corporations will have to balance very carefully the needs for a higher security (getting rid of outdated vulnerable software) with the needs for a higher privacy protection and encryption with regard to their data and their customers'.

What would you do? 

I'd be curious to have your feedback on this. I'm quite sure there will be some Windows fanboys cussing at me, but I'm a cyber security professional, not a religious fanatic.

I analyze facts. What I state here is written down in the Terms of Service for anyone to read, if they bother (will they? I'm seriously skeptical).

8/18/2015 Update: Looks like my concerns were well justified: Windows 10 may send Microsoft data even when you tell it not to

12/28/2015 Update: Some guys have replied to my post claiming that Microsoft data collection is anonymous and I'm being biased.  They’re either delusional, or in bad faith. I don’t pretend to be the Oracle of Truth and I’m open to constructive feedback, but this statement is incorrect for several reasons: 

1. The purpose of the whole thing is for you to have a customized product, tailor-made on your interests (ads, webpages, search suggestions, etc.). For this to be achieved, Windows needs to know your personal information (location, interests, etc.). If this isn't enough, this data, by using e-biometrics, can be broken down and reveal specific patterns for cities, specific locations (e.g. libraries), blocks, up to a specific individual subject.
2. OneDrive is integral part of Windows 10 and includes your personal files. ToS clear Microsoft owns your files and can monitor them. Sure thing, Microsoft is mandated by the regulations in force to verify your files don't break any law and to report to law enforcement, if so. How more personal than this can it become?
3. In this post I made it clear Microsoft isn't the only company adopting these policies. The post focuses on Microsoft because is about Windows 10 and Microsoft does it in an unprecedented and fulsome way.