ShutUp10 - Mini-Review

[IainB]

Original post date:	2020-01-07
Updated:	2020-01-11

Basic Info

Application name:	O&O ShutUp10 Antispy/privacy tool for Windows 10.
Thumbs-Up Rating:
Support:	https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 (This software has been mentioned in several past discussions on DC Forum.) Download the software from: the support link above.
Application Version Reviewed:	ShutUp10 v1.7.1405
Test System Specs:	Have used an earlier version successfully on Win7-64 HP, but this latest version seems to be specifically oriented towards Windows 10 32-64bit
Upgrade Policy:	$FREE for Private use.
Pricing Scheme	$FREE for Private use.

1.0 Intro and Overview:
(From the support page)

O&O ShutUp10 means you have full control over which comfort functions under Windows 10 you wish to use, and you decide when the passing on of your data goes too far. Using a very simple interface, you decide how Windows 10 should respect your privacy by deciding which unwanted functions should be deactivated.

O&O ShutUp10 is entirely free and does not have to be installed – it can be simply run directly and immediately on your PC. And it will not install or download retrospectively unwanted or unnecessary software, like so many other programs do these days!

2.0 Using O&O ShutUp10:
The user is presented with a panel listing the toggles (On/Off) switches.
Select those toggles you want, per the example below.



3.0 Who this software is designed for:
Home or business users wanting to manage their Windows 10 hidden/intrusive security/privacy settings.

4.0 The Good:
It's simple and effective.
It works just like it should.
Warns you about starting/enabling Restore Point and Shadow Copy functionality before making any changes.

5.0 The needs improvement section:
Nothing to report here.

6.0 Why I think you should use this product:
For home or business users wanting to better manage their Windows 10 hidden/intrusive security/privacy settings, this software could be of enormous help and provide peace-of-mind.

7.0 How it compares to similar software
Its simple approach and interface is one of the easiest to use that I have come across (so I have used it for years).

8.0 Conclusions:
Worth using in Windows 10 especially, as it addresses all the telemetry concerns.
Will need to be re-run periodically after Windows updates as they will tend to have restored the old default Registry settings (for the hidden/intrusive security/privacy settings ). Microsoft seems to never give up.

[Tuxman]

I love how the website for this "privacy tool" includes Google Analytics.

[IainB]

@Tuxman: Well, to be fair, O&O (whose software always seemed to be pretty honest work to me) have apparently designed SH10 (ShutUp10) to only enable the user to control their Win10 client's broadcasting, or otherwise opening its doors, on privacy/security details. SH10 doesn't stop servers opportunistically listening/fishing for that client's data/metadata in the first place, whilst that client is online.
Not many organisations that I know of seem to actually eschew the latter approach (listening/fishing) to some degree - only two come to my mind: Duckduckgo (search engine) and Brave (browser), though there are probably several more that I don't know of.
One of the things I really like about the Chrome BadAd Johnny extension (which I still use, despite Google seemingly trying to kill it off) was that it went rather savagely on the attack against such fishing exploits. JunkBuster did much the same, but rather more cleverly, so it had to be defeated by the invention of new technology/protocols and which it could not use - all in the interests of "security", no doubt (ha-ha).

[IainB]

EDIT: 2020-01-11 0624hrs:
Minor corrections, including the deletion of some irrelevant text in the original post and which related to redundant content from the template that had been used to make the post.