These are all good ideas, but sadly it seems like the best way is to leave the platform. If you guys think it is worth it, there is a petition you can sign. Spread the word if you agree 
windows 10 enterprise has a "disable telemetry"
I'm thinking to experiment with Windows Server 2016, it's free to try for 6 months. I will still run Windows virtualized under KVM for gaming purposes, but I don't want any of the default junk apps Windows 10 comes with. As far as I know, with the server version, all you're getting is just a shell based environment with the option of installing the GUI and nothing else. I'm not sure how different the telemetry situation is though.
The problem with the server version is that sometimes (I have no idea why) there are compatibility issues, or a program simply refuses to install. It is a different world altogether. You can run games on it, and it was tried on the LTT YouTube channel, but sometimes it is a little bit finicky.
True, that is why we would like to see it in the consumer version too
I noticed while I was playing with PfBlockerNG in pfsense that there is a ruleset for blocking Windows telemetry that you can turn on if anyone is looking for the "Easy" button.
I have to ask this; now that in the US legislators are moving to allow our ISP to legally sell all our browsing history, other than using our machines as an update server, does Win10 even matter anymore?
ISP only have access to your internet traffic, as opposed to an OS, which has access to everything you do both on- and off-line. Moreover, using an encrypted VPN hides your activity from the ISP, but not from the OS.
My understanding is that a lot can be gleaned from just internet traffic, but I'm ashamed to say I did not even consider the off-line activity.
I must say that at the risk of being construed as a paranoiac, I am suspicious of VPN's as they are likely to be interlocked/strawman owners with the big ISP's. Comcast throttles your Netflix because you won't buy "TV" from them, thereby creating a business model "solution" that is a workaround?
I've been using SpyBot Anti-Beacon for a long time now, does this really work?
I still get targeted advertisements on YT and in email spam.
Observation: Nothing short of someone breaking into or cracking into Microsoft, stealing the source code, commenting out the telemetry, and releasing the cracked version to the masses is going to stop Microsoft's spying.
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install gentoo
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So if you register windows 10 and use a VPN them it will call home and identify you as using that iP. I know where Id send a warrant if you were using a VPN.
That's not what anti-beacon is for. It attempts to stop Windows telemetry, stop Windows phoning get home. It's not an adblocker.
What I mean by targeted ads are advertisements that are selected based on intelligence gathered by telemetry.
For example, I've just started to plan a trip to the mountains in New England. I have in the past an avid interest in hiking, camping in tents, fishing and hunting, boating, etc. All of a sudden, I get deluged with web-ads, spam email, popups, from sporting goods chains, and outdoor gear websites.
The source code has been shared with various government and private entities on occasion and it has even been leaked (at least for old versions) but the problem as I understand it is building the source code even if you had it as the systems for doing that are proprietary and obfuscated.
Yes, building is hard, but if we had the source code, we would know how to defeat the telemetry without the need for rebuilding the OS.
Just switch to linux best answer to the problem?
Switch to linux and run only open source software, learn how to compile source code from any windows program you use, is what I am going to do from now on.
I just rolled a new win10 iso last night with ntlite; proceeding selecting "I have no license" disallows some options. Regardless, it seems fairly extensive. Well, maybe not extensive. Granular for sure, though. The telemetry options don't have a completely disabled setting, but it does have limits which it mentions are default for home, pro, and enterprise versions.
I haven't had a chance to run it yet. I just wanted a lightweight version to run in a VM for some Windows-only services on an old Linux server. I was able to hock most of the apps, which you can do on an already installed win10, but this lets you do it by default.
I also blocked all the telemetry in dd-wrt anyway, so that was the easy part. Took 5 minutes.
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