5.3 KiB
Privacy scope and sources
Reviewed 2026-09-20. ms-private reduces selected collection and connected features. It cannot establish device anonymity. Optional diagnostics, required service data, signed-in accounts and third-party apps are separate channels. Microsoft essential services.
GDID appears in the Stokes complaint alongside URL records and corroborating account/IP evidence. The complaint does not identify the exact collection mechanism or prove every browser is monitored. Local identifier replacement is not evidence of unlinkability. ms-private disables CDPSvc, the CDPUserSvc template and current instances, Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, cloud sync/backup, location and WER in Strict mode; it also blocks the reviewed diagnostic endpoint catalog. This reduces plausible channels but is labelled “GDID mitigated, verification pending” until controlled packet captures demonstrate the effect. ms-private does not rotate an undocumented identifier. Complaint, paragraphs 25-30, Microsoft per-user services, Windows endpoints.
The Windows advertising ID is not interchangeable with GDID, a Microsoft account ID, hardware identifiers or a browser fingerprint. Individual policy sources and impacts live in policies.json. On Pro the diagnostic minimum used here retains required diagnostics; policy configuration is subject to edition and precedence. Windows diagnostics.
Strict mode blocks new consumer Microsoft authentication by applications and new workplace registration. Its separate account purge resets exact current-user Store, Xbox, packaged Microsoft 365/Teams and shared account-broker packages, then deletes only matching stored Microsoft application credentials. Resetting a package permanently removes its current-user data and sign-in details. Reports omit identity names, emails, credential targets and secrets. The Windows logon identity and existing organizational registration are not removed. Microsoft account authentication policy, MSIX reset behavior.
Uninstalling OneDrive does not download cloud-only files. Make needed files available locally and back them up first. ms-private does not erase cloud records or manually remove synchronized folders. OneDrive removal.
Edge removal is limited by Windows and regional support. Its enterprise uninstall policy is not a universal consumer-PC bypass. WebView2 remains because applications use it as a separate runtime. Edge update policy, WebView2 distribution.
Appx package removal is scoped to the current user; the general data-preservation switch is not available for normal installed Store packages. Desktop removal is delegated to the registered product through WinGet with product-code/scope filtering. Remove-AppxPackage, WinGet uninstall.
Online updates necessarily send requests. An isolated PC can receive separately collected offline packages, but loses live cloud services. The offline bundle verifier proves only agreement with supplied hashes and metadata, not publisher authenticity or update completeness. See offline updates.
Local deletion and network anonymity are separate. ms-private can preview and remove selected WER/crash data, Recent Items, Jump Lists, thumbnail caches, known Zen/Tor/Helium cache subdirectories, PowerShell history, temporary files and expired toolkit reports. Browser cleanup retains cookies, passwords, bookmarks, sessions and settings. It does not clear security, Defender, update, firewall or authentication event logs. Those records help detect compromise and do not prevent an identifier or account token from being sent before deletion. File deletion is not a reliable physical-erasure guarantee on SSDs, backups or synchronized storage.
Security.ps1 reports BitLocker/device-encryption protection, Defender and cloud-protection posture, firewall, Secure Boot, TPM, VBS/Credential Guard, LSA, UAC, SMB/SMB1, remote access and protected-service state. It deliberately omits recovery keys, account names, Defender exclusions and secrets. Encryption protects data at rest; it does not hide network identifiers while the machine is unlocked and online.
Tor Browser, Zen and Helium serve different browsing needs. Installing a browser or VPN does not separate personal accounts, clear provider records or hide everything an endpoint sends. Avoid mixing identities and retain browser/security updates.