Disabling Windows spyware

By default, Microsoft tracks users online activity. An XDA article describes how to easily shut off monitoring in Windows 11 (and 10):

Forget Copilot+, Windows is already tracking everything you do
 — here's how to disable it

Activity history is already in Windows, and you might want to disable it if you're worried about privacy

Microsoft has been living a bit of a PR nightmare since it announced Copilot+ PCs a few weeks ago. Many users are concerned for their privacy, since the Recall feature revolves around remembering everything you do on your PC so you can easily go back in time to what you were doing previously. The company addressed those concerns with a recent update, but here's something you may not know: Windows is probably already tracking everything you do.

Unbeknownst to most people, Windows already includes a feature called activity tracking. In Windows 10, this capability was used to enable the Timeline feature, which was essentially a dumber, less capable version of Recall. But even though this feature was removed in Windows 11, activity tracking is still there and on by default. So here's how to disable it.

1. Open the Settings app (you can find it in the Start menu).
2. Click Privacy & security in the menu on the left. On Windows 10, select Privacy from the main menu screen.
3. Choose Activity history.
4. Turn the toggle Off for Store my activity history on this device (or uncheck the box on Windows 10). 
5. Also click Clear history to clear recent data that was already collected if the option is available.

After this, your activity history will no longer be tracked on your PC. You'll need to do this for every new PC you use, though, since it's enabled by default.

Even if you disable this feature, there are a few more ways Microsoft can collect data about you through Windows, and you may want to look into other privacy settings. We have a guide on how to make Windows 11 more private, if you'd like more information on that.


By Germaine: Private person

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