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I have a pi-hole setup in my network for ad and tracker blocking and am dual-booting my pc.
I recently noticed just how much data windows really is trying to gather from my machine.
So I took the pi-hole graph and you can VERY clearly see the os switch. All this useless traffic coming from windows. (This is with all the privacy relevant options inside the settings already turned off!)

Comments
  • 23
    Yup, it's actually quite creepy if you ask me.

    Welcome to my world!
  • 2
    You would love tek syndicate @youtube
  • 0
    Did someone achieve the total block for those web queries without messing with OS settings? like applying network outgoing rules to block those calls?
  • 2
    @jespersh The dns queries in the blue area, which are requesting tracking/ad domains, resolve to a local lan address so that they won't be able to be connected to but still resolve to something (so the software would have to redo the dns lookup, even if it was 'succesfull' but couldn't be connected to afterward. So inflated number of requests are unlikely I think but could happen, yes)
    All the other 'normal' dns queries are resolved and responded to normally

    @okstar This dns filter is applied on my complete network using https://pi-hole.net if you're interested
  • 0
    @succcubbus unfortunately, all my PC run Windows :\ can't install and try your solution
  • 1
    @okstar I have it running on a raspberry pi, it needs to be always on anyway so my phone can use it as the dns resolver too
  • 1
    @okstar You can. Install it on a pi or something and set the DNS to that pi or other device on which pihole runs.

    Done!
  • 2
    @succcubbus @linuxxx mmmm, I will try when I get a home in which settle down all my hardware and the pi. Thanks 😉
  • 1
    I had pihole installed in my network for one day and I told my parents about it. After a time they complained about not getting notifications from their mobile games (Candy crush and all that), so I uninstalled it again :(
  • 0
    @succcubbus there is plenty of software besides the OS.

    I would ask what different software is used on each side. Because ads are shown in tons of places. Maybe even your browser is configured differently and web browsing differs. Maybe it's the same request being retried over and over again when it can't get an expected reply from the host it's trying to reach.

    I mean this is quite a superficial observation. Too far from making any conclusions.
  • 3
    @AndSoWeCode I just looked up the detailed data. The valid, green requests were for my router, strangely. And here's the data for the blue ad/tracking requests:
  • 1
    @succcubbus it's not ads though. It's pseudonymized telemetry data used to create reports that serve to gain insight into usage, stability, and use those insights to increase performance and usability.

    Based on this data they decide what features to change, add, delete, improve, focus on, etc.

    https://zdnet.com/article/...

    Europe can force audits on this, to make sure no personal data is stored against user wishes.
  • 3
    @AndSoWeCode I don't care if it's personal data or if they are allowed to do that. I do not want an operating system to send out any data about my machine without my consent. I would maybe be ok with that if i could at least deactivate it easily.
  • 0
    Did you tried disabling telemetry and user diagnostics, for complete list search github "win privcy"
  • 1
    @canonbolt no, I didn't. I just disabled all I could find in the normal win+i settings
    I did not go through regedit or services.msc
    I'm only booting my windows for overwatch, so I'm not using it much anyway
    But I will run one of these win privacy tools from GitHub next time I'm using it
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