Manage Privacy Settings in Windows 10 with Privatezilla

Privatezilla is an open-source privacy management application for Windows 10. Using this we can enable or disable various features in Windows that could be affecting privacy related settings in your system. It has a familiar interface that resembles that of the Microsoft Group Policy editor.

In the Privatezilla window, you will see a tree-view control where the settings are placed under various categories such as Privacy, Cortana, Bloatware, App permissions, Updates, Gaming, Windows Defender, Microsoft Edge, and Security.

Under all of these various categories you will find Windows policies that can enable or disable some of the features. For example, you can disable Windows Defender for all the Store apps which makes sense because Microsoft has already scanned them. You can also block the automatic installation of the new Edge browser (Chromium based) which is a really good setting for the Google Chrome fans like me.

Privatezilla

Compared to some other Windows privacy tools like O&O Shutup, Ashampoo AntiSpy, DoNotSpy10 or BlackBird, Privatezilla does not make changes to anything else but only to the policies that are already available either through the Group Policy Editor or are described by Microsoft on their website. However, by configuring these policies, Windows may stop certain services.

If you want to do more than just change the policies in Windows 10, then you have to download the Community Package of Privatezilla. It allows you to remove the Windows 10 apps including OneDrive, unpin Start menu tiles, remove the telemetry of non-Microsoft apps like CCleaner, complete removal of Microsoft Defender (you should install a good antivirus if you remove Defender), adding Microsoft servers to Windows Firewall block rules  and more.

Privatezilla works with all versions of Windows 10 starting from version 1809 to the latest version and does a tremendous job of enhancing the privacy settings of your Windows 10 PC. However, the beginners should stay away from this as it can make some changes that may break certain features or apps in Windows 10.

You can download Privatezilla from https://github.com/builtbybel/privatezilla.