We all know that companies like Google and Facebook prey on all kinds of user data. This also applies to Microsoft, which collects user data cleverly and cunningly (also) via Windows. If you’re not comfortable with that, let Privatezilla scan your system and boost your privacy.
privatezilla
Price
For free
Language
English
OS
Windows 10 (1809 and later)
Website
www.bit.ly/prizilla 8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Fast analysis
- Lots of privacy features
- Powerful community scripts
- Negatives
- No built-in ‘undo function’
Privatezilla is an open source and portable tool: just extract the zip file and run the exe file. A window pops up with a panel with about sixty items that have something to do with the privacy of the user. These items are clearly divided into nine sections, including Security, Microsoft Edge, Updates, App permissions and Privacy (the latter in the strict sense of the word).
Analysis
A whole series of items are already checked here by default, and when you select the analysisbutton, these items reappear on the right. Items that are already configured on your system – read: enabled or activated – will have a green background color; the unconfigured parts have a pink background. This is useful to know the current ‘privacy settings’ on your own PC at a glance.
With the push of a button you can then enable all selected components. Unfortunately, there is no option to save these changes in some configuration file so that you can easily undo them later. So make sure you have a system restore point first.
Packages
It is also useful to have a so-called get ‘community package’ and integrate it into Privatezilla. On the website you will find a clear explanation of which extra functionality you get as a result. Just to name a few features: removing pre-installed apps, blocking telemetry through firewall and hosts, adding a PowerShell ‘debloating’ script and so on. You may immediately realize that these functions are mainly intended for the more advanced user.
After extracting the zip file to Privatezilla’s folder and restarting the tool, the additional features will become available from the tab scripts. However, know what you are doing before running these (editable) scripts!
Conclusion
If you are not completely sure about what data Microsoft is stealing from you via the Windows operating system, have your system analyzed by Privatezilla and possibly also reconfigured. Especially with the scripts you have to be careful not to make any unwanted changes.
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