Windows privacy tool ratings

Tools that reduce Windows telemetry and harden Windows systems.

17 Windows hardening are rated against 4 public criteria, and 17 have enough evidence for a letter grade. Of the 7 with a known jurisdiction, 3 are based in a Five Eyes country, and 5 in the wider Fourteen Eyes.

Open-source Windows hardening only · Criteria for this category · Suggest an addition · Markdown

Windows hardening privacy ratings, sorted by pick and then by grade
Name	Grade	Score	Data	Jurisdiction	Open source	No trackers or telemetry	No ads or data sales	Independent audit
HardenTools A utility that disables risky Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader and LibreOffice features that are commonly abused by malware.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
privacy.sexy An open source web and desktop app that generates and runs scripts to change privacy and security settings and remove telemetry on Windows, macOS and Linux.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Win11Debloat An open source PowerShell script that removes preinstalled apps, disables telemetry and changes other settings on Windows 10 and 11, with options to undo changes.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Windows Spy Blocker A Go tool that blocks Windows telemetry and tracking through firewall rules and hosts files built from captured network traffic. It is no longer actively maintained.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GhostPress An anti-keylogger for Windows that blocks low-level keyboard hooks system-wide and can protect selected windows from screenshots.	Grade D	50	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No
KeyScrambler Provides protection against software keyloggers. Encrypts keypresses at driver level, and decrypts at application level, to protect against common keyloggers.	Grade D	50	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No
NetLimiter An internet traffic control and monitoring tool for Windows that shows per-application connections and sets bandwidth limits, quotas and blocking rules.	Grade D	50	100%	Czechia Outside Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No
SigCheck A CLI utility that shows file version number, timestamp information, and digital signature details.	Grade D	50	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No
IIS Crypto A Windows Server utility for enabling or disabling protocols, ciphers, hashes and key exchange algorithms and reordering TLS cipher suites for IIS and other Windows components.	Grade F	20	100%	–	No	No	Yes	No
ShutUp10 A portable freeware tool from O&O Software that controls Windows 10 and 11 privacy settings, telemetry and built-in features.	Grade F	20	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	No	No	Yes	No
WPD A portable Windows tool that uses the Windows API to configure group policy, services, tasks and firewall rules related to telemetry, and to remove preinstalled apps.	Grade F	20	100%	–	No	No	Yes	No
RKill A Windows utility that terminates known malware processes and removes some of their settings so that regular security software can then run and clean the computer.	Grade F	0	100%	–	No	No	No	No
USBFix A Windows tool that detects and removes malware spread through USB removable drives.	Grade F	0	100%	–	No	No	No	No
Portmaster Firewalls Application firewall for Windows and Linux that monitors and blocks network connections per app, with DNS filtering, tracker blocklists and an optional paid multi-hop network (SPN).	Grade B	80	100%	Austria Outside Eyes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
simplewall Firewalls Windows tool that configures the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) to allow or block network access per application, with a rules editor and built-in blocklists.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TinyWall Firewalls Lightweight firewall for Windows that builds on Windows Filtering Platform, blocking all traffic by default and allowing apps through a whitelist without popups.	Grade B	80	100%	–	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Windows Firewall Control Firewalls Freeware front end for the built-in Windows Firewall that adds filtering profiles, notifications for blocked outbound connections and easier rule management.	Grade F	20	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	Yes	No

Questions

What is the most private option among Windows hardening?

No pick has been made yet. The table above is sorted by score, based on public evidence.

How are Windows hardening rated?

Each entry answers 4 questions: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and independent audit. Answers need links to evidence. See the full criteria.

Does jurisdiction matter?

Jurisdiction decides which laws can compel a provider to hand over data. Each entry shows its country and whether it is in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. The data a provider can hand over depends mostly on what it stores and who holds the keys. Read about jurisdictions and the CLOUD Act.