Is Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry required, or should we disable it?
Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry is a feature that collects data about your computer’s performance and usage. It can be helpful for diagnosing problems and improving software compatibility. Obvious, that using it might be a privacy issue. Sometimes, it is a performance issue, too.
In the article 4 reasons I disable Windows telemetry for better privacy at xda-developers.com, Joe Rice-Jones mentions the following reasons, why we should disable the feature:
- There is too much data that is collected by Microsoft this way.
- Even anonymized data can be used to track us.
- Disabling Compatibility Telemetry may increase system performance.
- Disabling Compatibility Telemetry helps against targeted advertising ("trying to sell us things based on our search history").
So, if we care about our privacy, Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry seems to be one of these Windows features that we should turn off. And, that it really seems to do a lot to slake Microsoft's curiosity, maybe you have noticed it yourself. It regularly happens that just after having started Windows, the computer fans work at full power, because the CPU turns with maximum speed at nearly 100%. Have a look at Task Manager if this happens. There are chances that it's Compatibility Telemetry that is responsible.
The question, that rises, is what we loose if we disable the feature. In the article How to Disable Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry at process.st, they write "Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry is an essential part of Windows. It looks to better the user experience by collecting and examining data on software and hardware performance. The information helps Microsoft detect compatibility difficulties, diagnose issues, and supply updates for stability and efficiency." What Microsoft calls "user experience" is nothing else than targeted advertising, so very often not at all what we are interested in. Compatibility and diagnose issues are more serious concerns, and if you have problems with some drivers or third party software, disabling Compatibility Telemetry might prevent you from receiving the patches to solve the problem. But, I guess that this only applies in rare cases, and that normally (at least on a correctly working system), disabling Compatibility Telemetry will not be a reason not to get all necessary updates for your Windows system. Thus, personally, I would say that turning it off is the better choice.
Disabling Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry – what must we do? There are several ways to do it. The (probably) simplest solution on Windows 10 is to use Administrative Tools > Services in Control Panel. Search for a service called "Connected Users Experiences and Telemetry". Use the link in the left pane of the window to stop the service. Then right-click the service, and from the popping up context menu, select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, set Startup type = Disabled.
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