Privacy
What your PC and apps send, to whom, and how to take control of it.
Cutting telemetry without breaking Windows Update
Use Windows' own diagnostic data settings for Windows, and block telemetry one app at a time for everything else. Blocking svchost.exe or Microsoft domains wholesale is what breaks Update.
Is my computer being tracked? What your network traffic says
Almost certainly, by ad and analytics services, which is normal and mostly happens in your browser. Signs of worse are specific: unknown programs, steady check-ins and flagged addresses.
Why is my PC uploading data when I'm not using it?
Usually it's cloud sync, a backup, Windows Update sharing pieces of updates, telemetry or a forgotten browser tab. Sort your apps by upload rate to find the one responsible.
How to stop apps from phoning home on Windows
See what each app contacts, decide which calls you'd miss, then block the rest: the whole app, just its updater or crash reporter, or ad and tracking domains across every app.
What your DNS lookups reveal about the apps on your PC
Before most connections, an app asks DNS for a name. A per-app list of those names shows which services each program uses, what it checks in with, and odd lookups worth a second look.
Which countries are your apps sending data to?
Group your PC's connections by country to see where each app's servers are. Expect surprises that aren't problems: CDNs and cloud regions put servers far from the company that owns them.