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September 26, 2024

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 Welcome to this week’s meeting of the eClub of the State of Jefferson.

Hello and Welcome to Rotary! Enjoy this week’s meeting.

Today is about fun! It has been a long week, and you never know when you will need a bit of trivia. It also gives you a small look inside my mind. 

Many of you may be aware that every day is a National “something” Day. Today, September 26th is National Pancake Day. A form of the pancake that we know today emerged roughly 7000 to 1700 BC. Defined simply as flat cakes prepared from starch-based batter, pancakes – or at least versions of them, they were one of humanity’s earliest, most important foods (per the Smithsonian). We have come a long way from this original pancake, just look at the menu at IHOP. Pancakes have taken on different forms, all over the world, from French crepes, Scotch Pancakes, Indonesian Serabi and Swedish Raggmunk, just to name a handful.

Now, that I have got all of you thinking about pancakes, it is the perfect day, to have my favorite: “Breakfast for Dinner” Bon Appetit

I appreciate all of you and I am grateful for the ability to serve you all and I thank you for your commitment to Rotary.

Patti Eisler
2024-25 Club President  

If you have any questions or comments, I am available. My e-mail address is:  Patti Eisler

 

The Four-Way Test

The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
The test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at club meetings:

Of the things we think, say or do

  1. Is it the TRUTH?
  2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
  3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
  4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 


email president@StateOfJeffersonRotary.org


 

eClub Board Meeting
September 26th 8:00 AM (PST)


 

November 2, 2024

TRF MILLION DOLLAR DINNER and GALA

Join us to celebrate all the great work The Rotary Foundation does to serve those most in need, at home and around the world.
Make your gift to The Rotary Foundation push our District goal from Denim to Diamonds! Think of the magic we will create.

Event registration open!  Go to Dacdb and the Event Calendar.

Downtown Athletic Club

999 Willamette ST
Eugene, Oregon 97401
541-484-4011

5 pm Reception Sunset Rm
6 pm Dinner in Ballroom

 


Do you know a dedicated Rotarian with a passion for service and leadership? Someone who inspires others and embodies the Rotary spirit of “Service Above Self”?
We are now accepting nominations for the position of District Governor for the 2027-2028 Rotary year.
The role of District Governor is a unique opportunity to lead and inspire Rotarians across our district. Our district has a proud tradition of leaders who have made a lasting impact, both in our local communities and beyond. These leaders have demonstrated outstanding dedication, professional expertise, and a commitment to Rotary’s core values.
If you are a current or past club president, a committed Rotarian, and someone who believes in the power of Rotary leadership, we encourage you to consider stepping forward. Alternatively, if you know a fellow Rotarian who possesses the qualities of a great leader and can guide our district into the future, we invite you to nominate them.
This is your chance to “Step up to the Plate” and help shape the future of our district. By nominating yourself or another worthy candidate, you will contribute to the ongoing success and vibrancy of our Rotary community.
Please submit your nominations no later than October 25, 2024 to drgerryk@gmail.com
Let’s continue to build a legacy of strong, effective leadership in Rotary District 5110.
Let’s hear from you!

 

 

 


Weekly eClub "Coffee Chat" Zoom meetings
Tuesday at 12:00 PM PDT

 I believe these “fellowship” meetings have been valuable. They are informal opportunities to get acquainted with our members. If it fits your schedule, I look forward to “seeing” you at the meetings.

 


September is Basic Education and Literacy Month

September is Basic Education and Literacy Month-

More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population. 

Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.


Leading with peace

By Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, 2019-20 RI Vice President and 2018-20 Rotary International Director

I have been involved with Rotary for more than 40 years, beginning as a Rotaractor in 1983 and transitioning to a Rotarian in 1993. My journey in peacebuilding started from two fronts: my deep commitment to community service and my involvement in Rotary’s structured peace initiatives. As a member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in District 9141, I have held numerous leadership positions including as club president, district governor, and past Rotary International director.

My passion for peacebuilding was sparked during my university days in Nigeria where we leveraged Rotaract to implement community improvement projects. This passion was further awakened when I became a regional Rotary Foundation coordinator (RRFC). In this role, I realized that while Rotary’s focus areas were being addressed, peacebuilding was not as actively engaged by Rotarians. This observation led me to prioritize and advocate for more intensive peacebuilding activities within Rotary.

Through my role as an RRFC, I began to understand that many Rotarians and Rotary clubs were unsure how to engage in peacebuilding. They often lacked the necessary skills and capacity. To address this, I connected Rotary Peace Fellows with their respective districts to share their expertise and experiences. These interactions were crucial in demystifying peacebuilding and demonstrating practical ways Rotarians could contribute to this important cause, knowing that for more than 25 years, Rotary members have been investing in the Rotary Peace Centers program. Because of that commitment, more than 1,800 Rotary Peace Fellows have been trained through our peace centers to work in peace and development across the globe.

Past RI Vice President Olayinka Babalola leads a discussion on the Pillars of Positive Peace.

During this journey and hunger for learning more, I became a Rotary Positive Peace Activator. This program, developed by Rotary International in partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, emphasizes the eight pillars of Positive Peace. These pillars provide a comprehensive framework for creating an environment where peace can flourish. I was invited to the East Africa Positive Peace Activators program as a guest and that inspired us to start the expansion of the program to West & Central Africa cohort, where I was trained and became a Rotary Peace Activator.

During my involvement with the Rotary Peace Center at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with Rotary Peace Fellows. These fellows undergo extensive training and return to their communities to implement Social Change Initiatives, later sharing their progress and challenges. This hands-on approach is vital in fostering a practical understanding of peacebuilding.

On a personal level, my engagement with the Positive Peace framework has profoundly influenced my interactions and leadership style. For instance, in my community, we applied the framework to understand and address issues such as school absenteeism, which was linked to unsafe routes frequented by drug dealers. By addressing the root causes, we created a safer environment for students, working with neighbors and understanding local governance.

My journey in peacebuilding with Rotary has been one of continuous personal and professional learning and active engagements. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts and I believe that building capacity for peacemaking at every level is crucial and more needed than ever before.

I am optimistic about the future and remain committed to creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

For more insights into my journey and Rotary’s peacebuilding initiatives, explore these pages on Rotary.org: Rotary Peace Fellowships; Rotary Positive Peace Program.


 
 



Leave a Rotary Legacy, Join the Bequest Society

Over the years, you have generously supported the Rotary Foundation through gifts to the Annual Fund SHARE. This fund generates life-saving projects here at home and around the world. Thank you for your incredible generosity. But what if you could ensure the same measure of serving humanity into this century, beyond your lifetime? Well, you can.

When you give a future gift through a bequest to the Rotary Foundation Endowment, you can designate that the annual interest earned from your gift principle is directed to the Annual Fund SHARE, District 5110! This ensures a sustainable flow of funding for our District to continue District Grants and Global Grants in perpetuity.  

Recently, interest payments from past generous Bequest Society Members have earned our District $35,000 to $37,000 in grant funds annually. Without these additional endowment earnings, some worthy projects would not be funded. These additional District Dedicated Funds (DDF) have helped fund a hospital in Uganda, a clean-water system for a school in Cozumel, and a literacy project in Botswana to name a few. It has also helped us fund local grant projects like weekend backpacks of food for hungry school kids, skate parks to promote healthy outdoor activities for youth, outdoor play areas at a relief nursery for needy preschoolers, and personal hygiene packs for Boys and Girls Clubs. But this year several service projects could not be funded because our District’s grant funds fell short.

A Rotary bequest to the Endowment Fund starts at a minimum of $10,000 and is usually funded by a member’s gift designation in a will or trust. The gift could also be funded by a retirement plan beneficiary designation, a life insurance beneficiary designation, or other financial strategies. We are here to help you navigate these incredibly valuable gifts to the Rotary Foundation Endowment. You may contact us at the phone numbers or emails listed below to discuss how you can become a Bequest Society Member in District 5110 or read more at Rotary Plan My Gift. https://rotary.planmygift.org/documents/r/rotary-international-foundation/pdf-legacy-commitment-form-printable.pdf

Any major gift of $10,000 or more will be recognized by RI Foundation Trustee, Greg Podd, at the November 2, 2024 Rotary Million Dollar Gala – Denim to Diamonds, in Eugene, Oregon. As a thank you, we will provide you with complimentary tickets for the dinner gala. We hope to see you as our guests! All Rotarians and their guests are welcome to help us celebrate at the gala for reaching our goal of raising $1 Million in gifts for The Rotary Foundation. Registration for the event opens September 9th on Dacdb in the District Calendar of events. 

DRFCC Cindi O’Neil                                             Governor Nelson Maler
Cindi O’Neil                                                           Nelson Maler                                               
District Rotary Foundation Chair 2022-25            District 5110 Governor 2024-25
541-480-8848                                                       541-761-5405
dgcindi5110@gmail.com                                      dgnelson2425@gmail.com


 



 

 

Navajo Solar Lights installation trip

~ eClub Rotarian Jackie O.

The Navajo Solar Light Project has been an on-going partnership between the eClub of the State of Jefferson and the Rotary Club of Durango Daybreak.

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Gathering at Chinle Planning Hope to get instructions to load up where we’re going and who we’re working with.

The Navajo Nation is comprised of about 27,000 square miles of land in NE Arizona, Southern Utah, and NW New Mexico and is home to about 180,000 members of the Navajo Tribal Council. Approximately 16,000 people currently live "off the grid" with no access to electricity, sewer or water supplies. Since gasoline for their generators is frequently too expensive for these remote, mostly elderly tribal members, the illuminated portion of their day largely ends with the setting sun. A solar lighting kit that utilizes a roof-mounted solar array to provide charging power to three lithium-iodide battery packs that, in turn, provides power to an LED array. The included wiring systems allow us to place the three lights in areas designated by the clients, while a fourth line provides power for charging cell phones.

The primary beneficiaries of the project are Navajo elders (over 60 years), and those for whom light is needed to maintain indigenous crafts that perpetuate the Navajo culture. Additionally, an installation contributes to the success of a young student with their studies, children who can now do their homework each evening.

eClub Rotarians Jean and Jackie assisted with the May 2024 installation. We we’re only able to do one installation because the other locations that were given us either did not have the owner at home, wasn’t answering their phone, and the last case scenario was that the person that requested the solar was not actually needing it. 

2024 IMG 2542A(Photo Left-Robin handing Dan the panel)

A solar light installation can be difficult because of the different types of homes ranging from Hogan’s to shacks. At the installation Jean and Jackie assisted in, Dan tried to drill the hole through both walls of Leonard‘s house, but was unsuccessful, his drill bit was too short. Suddenly, Leonard went outside and retrieved to 2/12 inch long drill bits, he said he had never used him before. Dan was then successful in getting through both inside and outside walls. His wife Robin was outside trying to feed the solar panel wires into the house, but there was too much insulation and even with two different wires, she was unable to get the wires through.

Again, Leonard went out and brought back in a pair of surgical forceps, viola, mission completed. He had no idea what they were, or what they were used for but he found a new use for them outside of the medical field.

The groups were split up with folks only doing one day of installs to avoid too many on a team going to people's homes. A tour was available so that folks who want to do the tour, could do the tour one day and installs on the other!  (Photo Below - Music! Jean & Leonard then find a good country music radio station. Look at the smiles on their faces!) 

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(Photo Below - Stringing the light lines. With Leonard's help, the crew places the light lines where he wanted them to be hung.)                                    (Photo Right - Solar panel installed.)

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Installations complete! From left to right, Jean Hamilton, Jackie Oakley, Robin Clark, Dan Clark, Leonard Chee, and Nancy Dosdall.
Nancy is an engineer who helped Joe Willams start this program eleven years ago. She rocks!

2024 IMG 2553A

 

 

 

 

From the Inventor of Mass-Market Paper Bags to a Scientist Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Polio, Meet Five American Women Whose Remarkable Achievements Have Long Been Overlooked

The inaugural exhibition at the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum seeks to shine light on lesser-known historical figures

Alicia Ault

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Most Americans learn as schoolchildren that Jonas Salk was the genius behind the invention of the polio vaccine. But there would not have been a Salk vaccine without the work of Isabel Morgan, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who discovered three subtypes of the virus and helped develop an experimental vaccine that protected monkeys against polio.

Those discoveries—and her determination that multiple boosters were needed for full immunity—were crucial to facilitating Salk’s development of the inactivated virus vaccine that still is in use today, some 70 years later.

But Morgan stepped back from science in 1949 to start a family, and her inactivated virus was never tested in humans. Although she later returned to scientific research, she never delved into vaccine studies again, and many of her contributions to the fight against polio faded into obscurity.

Now, however, Morgan is one of five women highlighted in “Becoming Visible: Bringing American Women’s History Into Focus,” the inaugural exhibition of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. The exhibition is online-only, as the museum, approved by Congress in 2020, is still seeking a brick-and-mortar location on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

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The visibility theme is central to the museum’s mission, says Elizabeth Harmon, a digital curator for the museum. “We know women have been making history for centuries,” says Harmon. The challenge for scholars is to document that history, because it is less visible—because women were not part of historical narratives, or they were in unpaid positions that weren’t documented, or they weren’t given credit for their work, she says. Their stories “have seemingly been written in disappearing ink,” Harmon says.

A ten-minute digital experience, the exhibition casts a spotlight on these select women, who illustrate the notion that even though many have been obscured or erased, it is possible to reconstruct their contributions and bring them back to life.

The women chosen for the exhibition represent “a variety of time periods, backgrounds and fields, to really show that this is a systemic issue in women’s history,” says Harmon, adding that their stories are illuminated by artifacts drawn from various Smithsonian Institution museums.

Actress Rosario Dawson, who is on the museum’s advisory council, narrates an introduction, while curators from across the Smithsonian Institution speak to each of the five historical figures.

Viewers will learn about Margaret Knight, who invented a machine that automatically cut, folded and glued flat-bottomed paper bags; Hazel Fellows, a seamstress who helped sew spacesuits for the Apollo program; Hisako Hibi, a Japanese American artist who lost much of her work while in a government internment camp during World War II; and Elizabeth Keckley, a formerly enslaved woman who became a much-lauded seamstress in Washington, D.C. in the late 19th century.

Knight is “a part of a whole lineage of women who were innovators, creatives, individuals who may not have had the traditional training in the academy, or even the proper training in school, but were able to do some really fantastic things with their lives,” says Ashleigh D. Coren, an educator with the American Women’s History Museum, in the exhibition.

Her story “is really important because it helps us understand the nuances of the American dream,” adds Coren in the narration.

2024 09 American Women 3A

As a worker in a bag factory, Knight decided that there must be a more efficient way to make the bags than the long manual process. After much thought and tinkering, she came up with the automated machine. A male co-worker tried to steal the design, but Knight sued and ultimately prevailed in court. She went on to found her own paper bag company; she had patents for some 26 inventions when she died in 1914. The 1879 patent model for the bag machine is displayed in the section on Knight.

Fellows, an African American woman, worked for the International Latex Corporation in Frederica, Delaware. She had a hand in creating the Apollo A7L spacesuit—the same suit worn by Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 when he was the first man to set foot on the moon.

2024 09 American Women 4A

The exhibition features a photo of Fellows at work on the suit, but aside from that image, “we actually don’t know a ton about her,” says Emily Margolis, curator of contemporary spaceflight at the National Air and Space Museum, in the narration. Fellows and her co-workers engaged in some high-tech sewing, done in consultation with NASA engineers, says Margolis.

Keckley’s mother and other women around her taught her to sew, says Dorothy Berry, a digital curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in the exhibition. Keckley “supported both her enslavers, with her sewing skills, and eventually her own family when she was freed,” Berry adds. In 1868, she created a furor with the publication of her memoir, Behind the Scenes or, 30 Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. She had enjoyed success as a dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln and for society women in Washington, where she had her own dressmaking shop, but her book was not well received, as it betrayed confidences between her and those women.

2024 09 American Women 5A

The frontispiece from the autobiography and a few dresses are shown in the exhibition. The seamstress eventually left the hothouse environment of Washington to run the Department of Sewing and Domestic Science Arts for Ohio’s Wilberforce University, the first college in the U.S. owned and operated by African Americans. Keckley died in 1907, having returned to Washington after a stroke.

2024 09 American Women 6A

Hibi almost became invisible, thanks to the American government’s mass roundup and incarceration of Japanese immigrants starting in February 1942. Those subject to the order were allowed to bring only a small number of personal belongings with them to the camps. Hibi and her husband, painter Matsusaburo George Hibi, left much of their work in the care of friends in San Francisco.

The Hibi family was incarcerated for more than three years, mostly at the Topaz Relocation Camp in Utah. When Hisako Hibi was eventually able to get back to San Francisco in 1954, she and her husband’s prewar art could not be found.

“I’ve been struck over and over again by how vulnerable this history is,” says Melissa Ho, curator of 20th-century art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), in the exhibition. “You see how, how fragile it is. It’s really very easy for somebody’s life’s work to sort of escape.”

2024 09 American Women 7A

She painted while in the camp and continued after her release. SAAM acquired some of her and her husband’s work in 2023. A few of Hisako Hibi’s paintings are featured in the digital exhibition.

Hibi’s family, her Japanese American community and her fellowship of Bay Area artists helped preserve her legacy and make it possible for others to know her story, says Harmon.

“I think there’s a really hopeful message here,” says Harmon. While the exhibition—and the museum—will be “highlighting the problem that women’s stories are missing from popular narratives of history, we know there’s a way we can tackle the problem,” she says.

“We know that we have resources to tell women’s stories,” says Harmon.

 
 
Got a program you would like to see? Leave a note in the "Add Comments" section below. 

weekly@StateOfJeffersonRotary.org


 

 

How to protect your privacy in Windows 10

Worried about privacy in Windows 10? Here's what you can do.

There has been some concern that Windows 10 gathers too much private information from users. Whether you think Microsoft’s operating system crosses the privacy line or just want to make sure you safeguard as much of your personal life as possible, we’re here to help. Here’s how to protect your privacy in just a few minutes.

Note: This story has been updated for Windows 10 version 22H2. If you have an earlier release of Windows 10, some things may be different. If you have Windows 11, see “How to protect your privacy in Windows 11.”

Turn off ad tracking

At the top of many people’s privacy concerns is what data is being gathered about them as they browse the web. That information creates a profile of a person’s interests that is used by a variety of companies to target ads.

Windows 10 does this with the use of an advertising ID. The ID doesn’t just gather information about you when you browse the web, but also when you use Windows 10 apps. Your advertising ID isn’t synced to other computers, and it operates independently of your Microsoft account, if you’re using one.

You can turn that advertising ID off if you want. Launch the Windows 10 Settings app (by clicking on the Start button at the lower left corner of your screen and then clicking the Settings icon, which looks like a gear) and go to Privacy. Click General on the left. On the General pane in the main window, you’ll see a list of choices under the title “Change privacy options.” The first controls the advertising ID.

windows 10 settings privacy general screen with advertising id slider off

You can turn off Windows 10’s advertising ID if you want.

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Move the slider from On to Off. You’ll still get ads delivered to you, but they’ll be generic ones rather than targeted ones, and your interests won’t be tracked.

To make absolutely sure you’re not tracked online when you use Windows 10, and to turn off any other ways Microsoft will use information about you to target ads, head to the Ad Settings section of Microsoft’s Privacy Dashboard. Sign into your Microsoft account at the top right of the page.

Then go to the “See ads that interest you” section at the top of the page and move the slider from On to Off.

Turn off location tracking

Wherever you go, Windows 10 knows you’re there. Some people don’t mind this, because it helps the operating system give you relevant information, such as your local weather, what restaurants are nearby and so on. But if you don’t want Windows 10 to track your location, you can tell it to stop.

Launch the Settings app and go to Privacy > Location. Underneath “Allow access to location on this device,” click Change and, on the screen that appears, move the slider from On to Off. Doing that turns off all location tracking for every user on the PC.

win10 privacy location 21h1

Clicking the Change button lets you turn location tracking on or off for every user on the Windows 10 device.

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This doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing affair — you can turn off location tracking on an app-by-app basis. If you want your location to be used only for some apps and not others, make sure location tracking is turned on, then scroll down to the “Choose which apps can use your precise location” section. You’ll see a list of every Windows 10 app that can use your location. Move the slider to On for the apps you want to allow to use your location — for example, Weather or Maps — and to Off for the apps you don’t.

That doesn’t cover desktop apps, though. So after you turn on location tracking, go to “Allow desktop apps to access your location” and turn the slider to On. When you do that, a list of desktop apps that use location tracking appears. Move the slider to On for each of the apps you want to use your location and Off for each app you don’t.

When you turn off location tracking, Windows 10 will still keep a record of your past location history. To clear your location history, go to the Privacy Dashboard, sign in, scroll down to the Location setting, and click it. You’ll see a list of your most recent location data; to see all of it, click Show all activities. You can click Clear all activities to delete all the data, or delete any individual entry by clicking the trash can icon at its far right.

There’s a lot more you can do to protect your privacy when you’re there. For details, see “Use Microsoft’s Privacy Dashboard” below.

Turn off Timeline

Timeline is a Windows 10 feature that lets you review and then resume activities and open files you’ve started on your Windows 10 PC, as well as any other Windows PCs and devices you have.(Although Timeline has been removed from Windows 11, it still lives in Windows 10.) So, for example, you can switch between a desktop and a laptop, and from each machine resume activities you’ve started on either PC.

In order to do that, Windows needs to gather information about all your activities on each of your machines. If that worries you, it’s easy to turn Timeline off. To do it, go to Settings > Privacy > Activity history and uncheck the box next to Store my activity history on this device.

win10 privacy activity history 22h2

Here’s how to turn off Timeline so that Microsoft doesn’t gather information about your activities on your PC.

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At that point, Windows 10 no longer gathers information about your activities. However, it still keeps information about your old activities and shows them in your Timeline on all your PCs. To get rid of that old information, go down to the “Clear activity history” section of the screen and click Clear.

Note that you’ll have to take these steps on all of your PCs to turn off the tracking of your activities.

Curb Copilot

Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot Copilot is the most powerful new feature Windows 10 has seen in recent years. Some people believe it can also be a privacy invader. That’s because your chat requests and responses are sent to the cloud, where they are processed — and they’re kept there as well.

If this worries you, there are things you can do about it. Start with the most basic. If you’re extremely worried about your privacy and don’t think Copilot offers anything for you, simply don’t use it. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll be losing out on its benefits, including the ability to get detailed information fast.

There is a middle ground between doing nothing to protect your privacy in Copilot and not using Copilot at all. First, don’t share your personal data when interacting with Copilot — things like specific financial information, your place of work, and so on.

Next, delete your Copilot chat activity on a regular basis. You can delete individual chats or all of them en masse. To delete individual chats, go to https://copilot.microsoft.com/ and log into your Microsoft account. On the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see your most recent chats. Move your mouse over any you want to delete, then click the trash icon next to it. To see more chats, click See all recent chats.

If you instead want to delete all your Copilot chats, go to the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard, log in, click Browsing and search, and scroll down to the bottom of the page, to the “Copilot activity history” section. Click Clear all Copilot activity history and search history. You’ll have to do this on a regular basis if you want to keep your activity as private as possible.

deleting copilot activity history in microsoft privacy dashboard

Here’s how to delete all your Copilot activity at once.

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Ditch a Microsoft account for a local account

When you use your Microsoft account to log into Windows 10, you’re able to sync your settings with all Windows devices. So, for example, when you make changes to your settings on a desktop PC, those changes will also be made on your laptop the next time you log in.

But maybe you don’t want Microsoft to store that information about you. And maybe you want to cut your ties as much as possible to anything Microsoft stores about you. If that’s the case, your best bet is to stop using your Microsoft account and instead use a local account.

To do it, go to Settings > Accounts > Family & other users. Then click Add someone else to this PC. From the screen that appears, select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information. On the next page, select Add a user without a Microsoft account and follow the instructions to create and use a local account.

Keep in mind that when you do this, you won’t be able to use Microsoft’s OneDrive storage or download and install for-pay apps from the Microsoft Store. You can, however, download and install free apps from the Microsoft Store.

Change your app permissions

Windows apps have the potential to invade your privacy — they can have access to your camera, microphone, location, pictures and videos.

But you can decide, in a very granular way, what kind of access each app can have.

To do this, go to Settings > Apps. Below “Apps & features” you’ll see a list of your installed apps. Click the app whose permissions you want to control, then click Advanced options and set the app’s permissions by toggling them either on or off.

win10 privacy app permissions 21h1

Setting permissions for Microsoft’s 3D Viewer app.

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Note, though, that not all apps have an “Advanced options” link. And of those that do, not all let you customize your app permissions.

However, there’s another way to change app permissions. To do it, go to Settings > Privacy and look under the “App permissions” section on the left-hand side of the page. You’ll see a list of all of Windows’ hardware, capabilities and features that apps can access if they’re given permission — location, camera, microphone, notifications, account info, contacts and so on.

Click any of the listed items — for example, Microphone. At the top of the page that appears, you can turn off access to the microphone for all apps. Below that you’ll see a listing of all the apps with access to the microphone, where you can control access on an app-by-app basis. Any app with access has a slider that is set to On. To stop any app from having access, move the slider to Off.

Control and delete diagnostic data

As you use Windows 10, data is gathered about your hardware and what you do when you use Windows. Microsoft says that it collects this data as a way to continually improve Windows and to offer you customized advice on how to best use Windows.

That makes plenty of people uncomfortable. If you’re one of them, you can to a certain extent control what kind of diagnostic data is gathered about you. To do it, head to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback. In the “Diagnostic data” section, you can choose between two levels of diagnostic data to be gathered. Note that there’s no way to stop Microsoft from gathering diagnostic data entirely. Here are your two choices:

  • Required diagnostic data: This sends information to Microsoft “about your device, its settings and capabilities, and whether it is performing properly.” If you’re worried about your privacy, this is the setting to choose.
  • Optional diagnostic data: This sends the whole nine yards to Microsoft: It will “send info about the websites you browse and how you use apps and features, plus additional info about device health, device usage, and enhanced error reporting.” It also sends along required diagnostic data. If you’re worried about your privacy, don’t make this choice.

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Go here to control what diagnostic data Windows 10 gathers.

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Next, scroll down to the “Tailored experiences” section and move the slider to Off. This won’t affect the data Microsoft gathers, but it will turn off targeted ads and tips that are based on that information. So while it won’t enhance your privacy, you’ll at least cut down on the annoyance factor.

Now scroll a bit further down and in the “Delete diagnostic data” section, click Delete. That will delete all the diagnostic data Microsoft has gathered about you. However, after you delete it, Microsoft will start gathering the data again.

Finally on this screen, consider scrolling up to the “Improve inking and typing” section and moving the slider to Off. That will stop Windows 10 from sending to Microsoft the words you input using the keyboard and inking.

One final note about diagnostic data. You may have heard about a tool Microsoft has been hyping, called the Diagnostic Data Viewer, which you can download from the Microsoft Store. Microsoft claims it lets you see exactly what kind of diagnostic data Microsoft gathers about you. Don’t believe it. It’s something only a programmer could love — or understand. You won’t be able to use it to clearly see the diagnostic data Microsoft collects. Instead, you’ll scroll or search through incomprehensible headings such as “TelClientSynthetic.PdcNetworkActivation_4” and “Microsoft.Windows.App.Browser.IEFrameProcessAttached” with no explanation of what it means. Click any heading, and you’ll find even more incomprehensible data.

Use Microsoft’s Privacy Dashboard

Microsoft has built an excellent, little-known web tool called the Privacy Dashboard that lets you track and delete a lot of information Microsoft gathers about you. As covered earlier in this story, here you can turn off ad targeting and delete your location and Copilot history. You can also view and delete your browsing history, search history, voice activity, media activity, and more.

(Note that for your browsing and search history, it only tracks your activity when you use Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer. It doesn’t track data when you use other browsers, like Chrome or Firefox. And it only tracks your location history when you’re using Microsoft devices, not those that use iOS or Android.)

microsoft privacy dashboard main screen

Microsoft’s little-known Privacy Dashboard is a great place to delete much of the information Microsoft gathers about you.

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To use it, head to the information you want to view and clear, then click the appropriate link — for example, to view and delete your browser history in Microsoft Edge. Note that in some instances, you won’t have full control over deleting and managing data.

In the dashboard you can also customize privacy settings for other Microsoft products, including Xbox and Microsoft 365.

Get granular in the Settings app

All this shouldn’t take that long and will do a great deal to protect your privacy. If you want to dig even deeper into privacy protections, launch the Settings app and click Privacy. You’ll see the same General pane that we covered in the first tip in this story. (If for some reason you’re in a different section of Privacy, click General on the left-hand side of the screen.)

Below the switch to turn off your advertising ID are three more privacy settings you can disable:

  • Language list: The list of languages you have enabled on your machine is your own business.
  • App launches: This is used to build the “Most used” list on the Start menu and influences search result order — likely not a must-have for the privacy minded.
  • Suggested content: This is used, in Microsoft’s words, to “suggest new content and apps you might find interesting.” Trust me, it’s unlikely you’ll find them interesting.

Turn all three of these off to further protect your privacy.

And there’s a lot more beyond the General pane. On the left-hand side of the screen, you’ll see additional areas where you can get even more granular about privacy — for example, in the “Inking & typing personalization” section you can change your global privacy options for inking and your typing history.

Tips for the truly paranoid

If you want to take privacy even further, there are a few more things you can do.

Stop using OneDrive

If you don’t like the idea of syncing your data to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service, you can stop using it. (There’s no way to uninstall it.) Right-click the OneDrive icon on the notification tray at the bottom right of the Windows desktop and select Settings from the menu that pops open. In the OneDrive Settings window, go to the Account tab, then click the Unlink this PC button. Next, click the Sync and backup tab and uncheck Start OneDrive when I sign in to Windows.

unlinking onedrive account to stop syncing

Unlinking OneDrive so it no longer syncs.

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Don’t sync Windows settings across devices

In addition, you can say no to syncing your Windows settings among different devices. When you sync your settings, the way you’ve customized and set up Windows 10 will be synced to Microsoft’s servers. If you want to turn it off, go to Settings > Windows Backup and move the slider from On to Off in “Remember my preferences” and “Remember my apps.”

Turn off app diagnostics

Changing this setting isn’t a particularly big privacy-enhancer, but if you’re a real privacy fiend, every bit helps. It doesn’t affect desktop apps like Word or Excel, and instead targets built-in Windows apps and the apps you download from the Microsoft Store. Turning off app diagnostics stops any of those apps from getting details about other apps — things such as their internal names, package names, the user name of the person running the app, and techie details such as memory usage. Developers use this information all the time, but your garden-variety apps shouldn’t need any of it.

To turn it off, select Settings > Privacy > App diagnostics, and in the “Allow access to app diagnostic info on this device” section, click Change. When a slider appears, move it to Off.

windows 10 app diagnostics screen

Turn off app diagnostics to prevent built-in Windows apps and Microsoft Store apps from getting details about other apps.

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Don’t share Windows updates

Finally, you can change the way Windows updates. In Settings > Update & Security > Delivery Optimization, turn off the switch next to Allow downloads from other PCs. When turned on, this function lets your Windows 10 system share its update files with other Windows 10 computers on the internet through peer-to-peer distribution.

These steps can take you a long way towards making sure that Windows 10 doesn’t cross the line into gathering data you’d prefer remain private.

 
 
 
 



 
 

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