How To Change Privacy And Wi-Fi Sense Settings In Windows 10?

Privacy And Wi-Fi Sense Settings In Windows 10

Any software system is not fully protected until it has some privacy parameters set by the developers. Likewise, the complete Microsoft Windows has been set more transparent in terms of its privacy and Wi-Fi sense settings. The new privacy setting in Windows 10 gives users a full control over the privacy settings. While the Wi-Fi sense feature allows the Windows 10 users to share the login information of the Wi-Fi network amid the work or application. But since this was not considered as secure so there was some change in its settings. This guide gives you an understanding of how to change privacy and wi-fi sense settings in Windows 10.

Steps to Change the Privacy Settings in Windows 10

Step 1: The first and the primary step is to press the Start button shown at the screen’s lower left hand side and then choose the Settings.

Step 2: Now, click on Privacy tab.

Step 3: As you click on Privacy, a lot of options will appear for privacy settings like using the SmartScreen Filter of Microsoft from the Windows Store apps or using the Unique Advertising ID. You can select and modify any of these options by turning the setting to either on or off.

So, this was not all about how to change privacy and wi-fi sense settings in Windows 10. You are still left with the Wi-Fi Sense settings of Windows 10.

What is Wi-Fi Sense Feature?

WiFi Sense is basically a Windows 10 feature that helps you to share your local WiFi passwords with the contacts. As soon as one of your contacts is within range of your WiFi signal they automatically get connected to your network. Additionally, you can share your WiFi password(s) among various Skype contacts, Facebook friends and even your Outlook address book. However, some people are still in dilemma of whether they should enable or disable WiFi Sense in Windows 10.

Further on its release, some people were concerned regarding a number of security-related factors. They started wondering if their passwords were safe in Microsoft’s cloud or not. They thought that this was just another backdoor for hackers to exploit and ruin their personal data. But, we don’t find any reason to be overly concerned about using WiFi Sense in Windows 10. In fact, storing passwords with a third-party cloud is a nonstarter.  Moreover, keeping track of who has your password is hard to manage and permission is hard to revoke.

Steps to Change the Wi-Fi Sense Settings in Windows 10

Let us proceed with the procedure to change privacy and wi-fi sense settings in Windows 10. Initially, Wi-Fi sense was welcomed wholeheartedly, but actually there were two problems. Firstly, you can only share your Wi-Fi among genuine offline friends or family members who can be trusted. However, all those who are contacts in Skype, Outlook and Facebook by default will be capable of accessing the Wi-Fi if they are within the range. Second issue is though the password is sent encrypted to both Microsoft and the friends but there is a high possibility of it getting hacked. As per the Microsoft database, cyber criminals always lookout for hacking the database. So, its your wish if you want to turn off the Wi-Fi Sense in your Windows 10 or not. Here's how you can change the settings: 

Step 1: Launch the Settings app and select Network and Internet. Scroll down to choose Manage Wi-Fi Settings. This will give you 2 options: connect to the recommended open hotspots and connect to the network shared through my contact. Here, you can turn off the second option.

Step 2: After you turn off this option, you can't access the PC of other people. This is good as they wont be capable of hacking into your PC nor can others connect with your PC. The button is useful in both ways for turning off the Wi-Fi Sense.

Step 3: Now, you can unselect the 3 choices given: Facebook friends, Skype contacts and Outlook.com contacts.

Step 4: Lastly, exit the Settings app. Your Wi-Fi Sense is now off and others cannot use your Wi-Fi or vice-versa.

Since Microsoft saves all the passwords in the database so the security may be breached at any time. You wont get 100% security guaranteed. For a good encryption level, you can simply change the Wi-Fi sense settings. 

So, this is how you can change privacy and wi-fi sense settings in Windows 10 using step by step instructions. 

Hope this article is helpful to change privacy and wi-fi sense settings in Windows 10.