Windows 10 privacy – All Group Policy settings

Michael Pietroforte Tue, Sep 29 2015 group policy, security, windows 10 38

In this post, I collected all Group Policy settings that are related to privacy in Windows 10. I will update the list when I receive new information. Please contribute to this ongoing project.

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Michael Pietroforte

Michael Pietroforte is the founder and editor in chief of 4sysops. He has more than 35 years of experience in IT management and system administration.

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An updated list of Windows 10 privacy settings is now in our wiki.

Many bloggers and journalists raised privacy concerns about Windows 10. Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group, now reacted in a blog post to the critique. According to Myerson, Microsoft uses the data for “a personalized Windows experience” and to improve Windows 10.

Previous Windows versions also sent a lot of data to Microsoft and third parties. However, in Windows 10, new features such as Cortana and the search feature of the Start menu require that even more data is collected and sent across the Internet for further analysis.

You have to decide for yourself if you really need these Windows features and if it is worth the risk that one day your personal data might be used against your interests. Windows 10 offers myriad settings that help you protect your privacy. I recommend that you invest the time to find out if the default Windows 10 settings serve you best.

Windows 10 privacy settings

I believe that, in a corporate environment, these decisions should not be left to the end user. You can use Group Policy to disable many features that send information to Microsoft or third parties.

Below, I collected all Group Policy settings that I found in blogs and forums that are related to privacy in Windows 10. To make it easier for you to decide whether a policy is relevant for the privacy policy of your organization, I copied the part of the description that helps you understand what data is sent and to whom.

I wasn’t able to find all Group Policy settings that Windows 10 offers in its privacy settings. I added a question mark to the corresponding title and marked it in red. If you know these Group Policy settings, please share the information in a comment. I will then update the article. If you want to contribute to this ongoing project, you have various ways to search Group Policy settings.

In cases where I only found the corresponding Registry setting, I added this information instead of the Group Policy settings. This allows you to build your ADMX templates or deploy the setting with Group Policy Preferences. You can use tools such as the Sysinternals Process Monitor to find the Registry settings that belong to a particular Windows 10 setting.

Thus far, this list is in no particular order. The first part covers all the configurations from the Windows 10 privacy settings. Aside from the policy description, I also added the corresponding explanation in the Windows settings. In the second part, I added all the other privacy-related configurations I found on the web.

If you are aware of additional privacy-related settings, you can post a comment below. Please contribute to this project.

Windows 10 privacy settings

Turn off the advertising ID

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles

This policy setting turns off the advertising ID, preventing apps from using the ID for experiences across apps.

Windows setting (Settings > Privacy > General):

Let apps use my advertising ID for experiences across apps

Configure Windows smartscreen

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer

This policy setting allows you to manage the behavior of Windows SmartScreen. Windows SmartScreen helps keep PCs safer by warning users before running unrecognized programs downloaded from the Internet. Some information is sent to Microsoft about files and programs run on PCs with this feature enabled.

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > General):

Turn on SmartScreen Filter to check web content (URLs) that Windows Store apps use

Improve typing?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > General):

Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improving typing and writing in the future

Registry key (according to this post):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Input\TIPC
Value name: Enabled
Value data: 0 or 1

Locally relevant content?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > General):

Let websites provide locally relevant content by accessing my language list.

Registry key (according to this post):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\User Profile
Value name: HttpAcceptLanguageOptOut
Value data: 1 (disable the option)

Location on / off?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > General):

When location services for this account are on, apps and services you allow can request location and location history.

Location history?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Location):

When location is on, the location obtained to meet the needs of your apps and services will be stored for a limited time on the device. Apps that have access to these stored location will appear below.

Camera?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Camera):

Let apps use my camera

Microphone?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Microphone):

Let apps use my microphone

Allow input personalization

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options

Automatic learning enables the collection of speech and handwriting patterns, typing history, contacts, and recent calendar information. It is required for the use of Cortana. Some of this collected information may be stored on the user's OneDrive, in the case of inking and typing; some of the information will be uploaded to Microsoft to personalize speech.

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Speech, inking, & typing):

Getting to know you

Windows and Cortana can get to know your voice and writing to make better suggestions for you. We’ll collect info like contacts, recent calendar events, speech and handwriting patterns, and typing history.

User management of sharing user name account picture and domain information with apps (not desktop apps)

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles

This setting prevents users from managing the ability to allow apps to access the user name, account picture, and domain information.

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Account Info):

Let apps access my name, picture, and other account info

Access contacts?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Contacts):

Choose apps that can access contacts

Some apps need access to contacts to work as intended. Turning off an app here might limit what it can do.

Access calendar?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Calendar):

Let apps access my calendar

Apps that can access calendar?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Calendar):

Choose apps that can access calendar

Some apps need access to your calendar to work as intended. Turning off an app here might limit what it can do.

Read or send messages?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Messaging):

Let apps read or send messages (text or MMS):

Apps that can read or send messages?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Messaging):

Choose apps that can read or send messages

Some apps need to read or send messages to work as intended. Turning off an app here might limit what it can do.

Disable Radios?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Radios):

Some apps use radio – like Bluetooth – in your device to send and receive data. Sometimes, apps need to turn these radios on or off to work their magic.

Let apps control radios

Apps that can control radios?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Radios):

Choose apps that can control radios

Apps that you need your permission to control your radios will appear here. Go to the Store to get apps.

Sync info with wireless devices?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Other devices):

Sync with devices

Let your apps automatically share and sync info with wireless devices that don’t explicitly pair with your PC, tablet, or phone.

Other wireless devices that share info?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Other devices):

Other devices that allow you to control app access will appear here.

Feedback frequency?

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Feedback & diagnostics):

Windows should ask for my feedback

Registry key (according to this comment):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Siuf\Rules\PeriodInNanoSeconds
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Siuf\Rules\NumberOfSIUFInPeriod

Allow Telemetry

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview builds

This policy setting determines the amount of diagnostic and usage data reported to Microsoft. A value of 0 indicates that no telemetry data from OS components is sent to Microsoft.

Windows settings (Settings > Privacy > Feedback & diagnostics):

Diagnostic and usage data - Send your device data to Microsoft

This option control the amount of Windows diagnostic and usage data sent to Microsoft from your device.

Apps running in the background?

Let apps run in the background

Choose which apps can receive info, send notifications, and stay up-to-date even when you’re not using them. Turning off background apps can help conserve power.

Other privacy settings

Prevent the usage of OneDrive for file storage

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > OneDrive

This policy setting lets you prevent apps and features from working with files on OneDrive.

Turn off Active Help

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Online Assistance

This policy setting specifies whether active content links in trusted assistance content are rendered. By default, the Help viewer renders trusted assistance content with active elements such as ShellExecute links and Guided Help links.