An overview of the Windows 10 privacy settings (and what they mean)

There has been some concern in the media about what Windows 10 means for your privacy, as the OS captures a lot more data than before. If you're keen on privacy you can check out this guide from Lifehacker to walk you through most of the settings you can disable. The site also clearly explains what each of these features does, as disabling them will make your Windows 10 experience more generic and can also break some features like the Cortana digital assistant.

Windows 10 has some handy new features, but if you believe the rest of the internet, it also comes with features that eviscerate any semblance of privacy. But that view is a little overblown. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these settings actually do—and which ones are actually a privacy problem.

Windows 10 has a reputation for “phoning home” more often than its predecessors, and while that’s primarily true, much of this was already present in Windows 8—and an awful lot of it is present in other products like Android, iOS, and Chrome. That’s not to say all of those settings are good, just that there’s very little new happening here.