Debotnet : Tool For Controlling Windows 10’s Privacy-Related Settings

Debotnet is a free and portable tool for controlling Windows 10’s many privacy-related settings and keep your personal data private.

Your preparation for the Net!

The Windows 10 default privacy settings leave a lot to be desired when it comes to protecting you and your private information. Whenever I set up a new computer or update a current setup for my family or job, I always carefully go through the privacy settings for each install, making sure to lock it down to make it as private as possible.

Windows 10 has raised several concerns about privacy due to the fact that it has a lot of telemetry and online features, which send your data (sensitive and not) to Microsoft and can’t be disabled, which means Microsoft can:

Run software on your computer without your consent
Get data from your computer without your consent
Remove software and files from your computer without your consent

This qualifies Windows 10 as malware, and more specifically, a botnet.

Debotnet requires Windows 10 including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Info! The development of Debotnet was discontinued.

If you are interested in continuing to maintain the project, you can do so. I have released the Source Code of Debotnet. The project was compiled with Visual Basic 6. It will not be everybody’s cup of tea and it’s not mine too, but I had fun with it anyway and it worked well. You can read the whole background story here.

You will find great replacement tools for Debotnet with SharpApp or Spydish which is even better for the non-experienced user.

Features

Disable telemetry and online features, which send your data (sensitive and not) to Microsoft
Choose which unwanted functions you wish to disable
Debotnet will show you what it’s doing. You have full control, because the executing code is not hard coded and can be viewed in a simple text editor
Simple scripting engine for adding custom privacy rules
Debug mode. E.g. the Test mode lets you see which values are twisted in registry or commands executed
Scripts updated on GitHub
Support for Ninite service, which allows you to download and install more than 70 popular apps for Windows
Support for Chocolatey Software, which has a massive community package repository of installs (more than 4,000 packages)
Download Windows 10 ISO files using Microsoft Media Creation Tool with command line switches, also through MCT Wrapper or just a PowerShell script
Integration of custom PowerShell debloating scrips, e.g W4RH4WK / Debloat-Windows-10, Sycnex / Windows10Debloater
Download deprecated Windows apps, e.g. Classic Calculator
Modern and familiar UI, with theme support
Small footprint. No installation required (Portable)

Usage

As above mentioned Debotnet’s main tools (in this case the scripts for debotnetting Windows) are not hard coded. Debotnet is based upon simple .DS1 files which define exactly which registry keys, files and or/services should be disabled, blocked, deleted etc. and preserved by the program. These script files allows you to execute command-line tools and parameter and also simple PowerShell code.

Example

[Info]
ID=No more forced updates
Ver=1.0
Desc=This will notify when updates are available, and you decide when to install them.\n\nThe values added to registry with this script will prevent forced updates.
Dev=Federico Dossena
DevURL=https://github.com/adolfintel/Windows10-Privacy
WinVer=Compatible with Windows 10
Evaluation=Recommended
EvaluationColor=009e5e

[Code]
Task1=Try,query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v NoAutoUpdate,STDOUT
Task2=Try,query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v AUOptions,STDOUT
Task3=Try,query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v ScheduledInstallDay,STDOUT
Task4=Try,query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v ScheduledInstallTime,STDOUT
File5=Reg,add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v NoAutoUpdate /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f,STDOUT
File6=Reg,add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v AUOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f,STDOUT
File7=Reg,add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v ScheduledInstallDay /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f,STDOUT
File8=Reg,add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v ScheduledInstallTime /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f,STDOUT

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