Control Windows 10 Privacy with WPD

Martin Brinkmann
Jun 19, 2017
Updated • Oct 10, 2018
Software, Windows 10
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WPD is a free program for Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system that lets users tweak privacy related settings and features.

Privacy is still a hot topic when it comes to Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system. While things seem to have cooled down a bit, there are still lots of users out there who don't want to use Windows 10 because of privacy concerns.

Microsoft revealed some details on the collecting of Telemetry data back in April, and seems to have opened up a bit more as it released information on Telemetry in April 2017.

Update: We have published a review of the 2018 version of WPD here.

WPD

wpd privacy windows

WPD is a portable program that you can run from any location; it requires no installation. The program displays its four main sections privacy, firewall, apps and tweaker on start.

The program uses a simple slider system when it comes to most settings. A blue slider indicates that a setting or feature is enabled, a white one that it is disabled and not available.

The privacy group of tweaks is divided into Group Policy, Services, and Scheduler switches.

Local Group Policy Services Scheduler
Internet Explorer CEIP DiagTrack Consolidator
Use OneDrive Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service KernelCEIPTask
Allow Cortana dmwappushservice UsbCeip
Allow Cortana/search to use location DataCollectionPublishingService BthSQM
Throttle additional data WMPNetworkSvc Sqm-Tasks
Windows Error Reporting Proxy
Steps Recorder Compatibility Appraiser
Inventory Collector ProgramDataUpdater
Telemetry DiskDiagnosticDataCollector
Input personalization GatherNetworkInfo
Handwriting automatic learning
PerfTrack
Advertising ID
Windows CEIP
Windows Messenger CEIP
Search Companion
Microsoft consumer experiences

Each option has a question mark icon next to it which you can activate with a mouse click to display a short description of what it is and what it does.

While that may not be necessary for some of the tweaks, Telemetry or Advertising ID for instance, it may be helpful for other features. It may be unclear for instance what Throttle additional data or Consolidator do; most descriptions make it clearer. There are some that require a bit more work though (Compatibility Appraiser just lists a path and file name for instance).

You can change features individually, or use the switch all button displayed on the page to make the change for all controls in one operation. Note that some features, Cortana or OneDrive for instance, may stop working if you toggle them off.

The second group, Firewall, lets you add IP addresses to the Windows Firewall to block communication with Microsoft servers and third-party apps.

The rules are sorted into the three groups Windows telemetry, third-party apps, and Windows Update, and you may enable one or all of them.  The IP list is taken from the free program Windows Spy Blocker which is updated regularly.

The page indicates whether rules are set, and there is a small icon next to each group that allows you to copy the whole list of IP addresses that the group is made of to the Clipboard. This is useful for reviewing the list before you apply it, and also if you use a different firewall or program to control network traffic.

The third group, Uninstall, lists default Windows applications, and provides you with options to delete some or all of them from the program interface.

All it takes is to select the apps that you want removed -- 3D Builder or Get Office for instance -- and hit the delete button afterwards. You can also delete all applications in one swift operation.

The fourth and final group lists tweaks that you may apply. These are also privacy related for the most part. You may allow or disallow apps to use certain data sets or hardware functions, like the camera, microphone or contacts, here among other things.

Verdict

WPD is a handy program for Windows 10 users who want more control over privacy related settings of the operating system. The program is easy to use and portable.

One downside is that it does not create a backup of sorts before changes are made. While you can toggle all features directly in the interface, it is recommended that you create a System Restore point or, better, a full backup of the system partition before you use the application.

Now You: Do you run Windows 10? Have you made any privacy related changes?

Summary
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Author Rating
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4.5 based on 53 votes
Software Name
WPD
Operating System
Windows
Software Category
Administration
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Comments

  1. John G. said on January 2, 2023 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    All is better than the current ClipChamp that it’s the most useless garbage ever done. Thanks for the article by the way.

    1. Anonymous said on January 3, 2023 at 12:21 am
      Reply

      Horrible company that bought out this ClipChamp trash. Microsoft no longer puts any effort into developing software; instead, they only want to use their subpar web services to con you out of more money.

  2. VioletMoon said on January 2, 2023 at 5:07 pm
    Reply

    No disrespect, but educators have known about MS Photos and the ability to work with videos for four years; may want to take a look at the MS Educators Blog:

    https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2018/07/how-to-quickly-edit-videos-on-windows-10

    The following link is part of the Blog:

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/windows/photo-movie-editor

    Here to old fashion legacy stuff: I still use Movie Maker, which runs fine on Windows 10, and PhotoStory, which has enabled me to make some awesome slideshows.

  3. Seeprime said on January 2, 2023 at 5:16 pm
    Reply

    Still using question marks without asking a question. That’s not professional.

  4. Paul(us) said on January 2, 2023 at 11:06 pm
    Reply

    “To edit it, you need to click on ‘edit & create’ from the top. “Do you mean with Windows 10 in photo’s “Video trim”?

  5. French Fried Potaterz said on January 3, 2023 at 5:08 am
    Reply

    – Video Editor:
    KDENLIVE: https://kdenlive.org/en/

    – DVD Authoring:
    DVDFlick: http://www.dvdflick.net/

    Both are free and are not “crippleware” like most “free” offerings for Windows.

  6. Tish said on January 3, 2023 at 11:53 am
    Reply

    Shaun, it really backfires to draw people’s eyes to something irrelevant. Links should have good information scent: that is, they must clearly explain where they will take users. Additionally, poor link labels hurt your search-engine ranking.

    Don’t force users to read the text surrounding a link to determine where it leads. This is both time consuming and frustrating.

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