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I'm about to set up a new PC for a relative with Win 10 Home, parts have just arrived. Any advice on set up procedures or things I can do to keep Microsoft from spying on them and collecting their data? Or is it just not possible any more? Surely I can install the OS without creating a MS account? My intention is to disable all the nags, bloat and advertising bullying, leaving only an essential OS that doesn't bully…
You can have an offline account which is not connected to a microsoft account in any way. They try to force you to connect a microsoft account. There are scripts that disable all telemetry - reddit.com/r/tronscript is a good resource. The issue is that we don't know when Microsoft turns it back on.
I won't be telling him about that. He deletes emails and even text messages as soon as he's read them, for fear of them causing problems. The last thing he wants is Windows popping up some message, contextually trying to be smart and know what he's doing without him inviting that bot into his world.
Microsoft (and other giants) simply don't get it.