Windows 10 is a pleasant operating system that makes people reach for the PC again. There is also criticism, such as the large amount of data that Microsoft collects about the user and shares it with others. While you can disable all those options, they are all on by default. DoNotSpy10 helps.
DoNotSpy10
Price
Free (with adware) or €5 to €15 for advertising material
Language
English
OS
Windows 10
Website
6 Score 60- Pros
- Helps manage privacy options Windows 10
- Now also ad-free
- Negatives
- Adware (free version)
- Interface
- Also other options in overview
Microsoft's new privacy and services agreements deserve to be read now (see www.tiny.cc/privnl and www.tiny.cc/servnl). They provide an overview of how Microsoft collects data about you unnoticed when you use its products and services. For example, you can read that Microsoft records your browsing history and the sites and applications you use. That Windows keeps track of where you are. And that Cortana (the voice-activated search engine that is currently missing from the Dutch Windows 10, but is expected later this year) reads your calendar, e-mail and text messages "to serve you better". Even your voice is uploaded for analysis!
Not a pleasant thought, but fortunately Windows does offer the option of turning off all these functions. There are 37 in total and you will find them scattered throughout the control panel and settings. DoNotSpy10 is therefore an obvious program that neatly puts all privacy options together in one overview. Switching off one or more is so much easier.
Unfortunately, DoNotSPy10 is not limited to just privacy functions, so those who think they can quickly be safe by selecting and disabling everything, for example also disabling Windows Update and the security of Windows Defender. Even more annoying is that in return for free use, DoNotSpy10 installs the advertising network OpenCandy, which gives you, for example, the Yahoo search engine and Wajam for buying advice.
If you don't want this, you can disable it during installation. The criticism he received from a privacy program with advertising software has led DoNotSpy10 developer Jonas Zimmermann to now also offer an ad-free version. The young German asks for a small fee for this, which, he says in a response to us, is needed to be able to continue making this kind of handy software in addition to his work and studies.
Conclusion
In a program that claims to protect privacy, there simply should be no functionality that threatens privacy (OpenCandy). We do not recommend the free version for that reason. For a small amount you get a product with the paid version that brings all the privacy options of Windows 10 together in one overview. It makes it easier to manage them. Avoid disabling too much, it would be better if the program really only manages the privacy options.
