Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10 1.0.6

Overview

A lot of fuss has been going on since the official release of Windows 10 and the way it handles user privacy. A lot of user information are being sent to Microsoft’s servers, and one cannot easily prevent that. That’s why Ashampoo released this really handy tool called Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10, which gives you the ability to customize all security and privacy system settings, as well as disable all reports that are being sent to Microsoft, so as to enjoy a less invading and more convenient Windows 10 experience.

Installation

You’ll be so relieved to hear that Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10 is portable, meaning that there’s no installation is required. Simply download and launch it! Oh, and don’t worry about its size either- it’s less than 300 KB.

Ashampoo is a trusted developer company and none of its products include any kind of malware, such as viruses, Trojans or spyware. Additionally, no additional 3^rd-party advertised software are included in this product either.

This program is designed for use under Windows 10 only, regardless of edition (Home, Professional or Enterprise) or architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).

Interface

As soon as you open the program you will be asked whether you want to create a system restore point. You can click Yes to create one immediately (it won’t take long), or click No if you don’t want to. Afterwards you will be presented with a long list of settings that you can enable or disable with the click of a button. At the top right corner of the window there’s a button that opens a dropdown menu with the following options: Set all recommended settings, Deselect all settings and Set default settings.

Pros

Ashampoo’s developers have gathered all native security and privacy settings found in Windows 10 and its built-in apps, and added them in this software in order to give users the ability to configure them in any way they want, without having to look deep in Windows 10 for them (if they are aware of their existence in the first place).

The available settings in Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10 are divided into 11 categories: General, Location, Camera, Microphone, Windows and Cortana, Account Info, Contacts, Calendar, Message, Radios and Others. Each category includes certain security and privacy settings that you can either turn on or off just by clicking on the buttons next to them.

Since there are many settings for you to configure, and it’s quite possible that you’re not familiar with all of them, there’s an option included in the program that sets recommended values for all values, with “recommended” here meaning “balance between privacy, security and convenience”. Also, there’s another option to disable all settings too.

In case you want to revert all changes you made, you can click on the option that sets the default values for all settings.

Cons

Everything works perfectly, but perhaps it would be a nice addition if there was a caption to briefly describe what its settings in the program do.

Alternatives

One good alternative you can try is ShutUp10 (free) by O&O, which gives you the power to disable certain Windows 10 security and privacy settings, just like Ashampoo AntiSpy for Windows 10. Other security tools for Windows 10 are: Destroy Windows 10 Spying (free), Spybot Anti-Beacon for Windows 10 (free), Windows Privacy Tweaker (free- works on Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1 as well), DoNotSpy 10 (freemium), W10 Privacy (free), Windows 10 Privacy Fixer and Disable Win Tracking (free).

Conclusion

This program is so small and helpful that you just have to get it. No installation needed, it’s extremely easy to use and of course, it can increase security and limit the data being sent to Microsoft’s servers, thus restoring your privacy.