How to disable news and interest in Windows 11 widget

Like you I would be really happy with the local weather and traffic, even local news. But the click bait news is distracting and annoying. The fact Microsoft seems to not want hear consumer customers about what they want in the widgets AND WHAT WE REALLY WANT REMOVED is really disappointing. The constant news feed even download even if you disable or uninstall makes a great product unusable. If they are more interested in pushing advertising at us I am not sure how much I can trust them. I was really liking everything they did since Windows Server 2012. I found your reply about the Windows Web Experience Pack helpful. I might try the Windows 11 upgrade again and see if that fixes the issue. I'll bet the developers don't always have a constant news feed showing them marketing spam while they are working..

Thanks for your reply, it's also worth noting that you can reinstall the package if you notice any loss of functionality that you find of value. Re reward points - I note that I get unsolicited reward points when playing solitaire in guest mode -they want me to sign into xbox and give up my privacy for the sake of a single player game that should have no need of the internet at all ! I would very much prefer to waste my time in private without adverts!!!!

Keep things locked down as any sensible internet user does and regularly review your privacy settings and - in so far as one can - ensure that you do not have any personalised ad id or adverts, then verify to the extent available that you app and internet history history is cleaned by default and kept clean.

Many corporations, including Microsoft, are continually attacked and many have suffered data breaches. American corporations with huge code bases are prime targets, and all users should ensure that no data data is held without explicit consent - they need to be aware that it can be stolen as collateral damage from attacks on other users and third parties.

Too many sites have lax security or were developed by programmers with weak security skills. Too many people succumb to phishing and other scams and are insufficiently aware of potential security issues and how bad actors can aggregate and leverage user data as part of an attack path into corporate systems.

It especially annoys me how bad most websites are at respecting PII and GDPR rules and preferences and fail to remember that non-essential cookies have been blocked - too many websites rely on users clicking through without checking T&C - which often demand far greater data exposure and privileges than necessary for safe use of the site/app. Also check out googles newer data collection paradigms. Many sites and apps are starting to replace cookies with other mechanisms to track and aggregate user data - make sure you understand them before you decide whether you can trust them!!!

It's always worth keeping an eye on reputable security blogs and the common vulnerability and exploit databases and related bulletins. Also install official software patches and updates - but do check that they don't restore features you've blocked or removed. The vast majority of MS updates are pretty good about respecting your settings, unless some setting has actually compromised security, but the odd regression does slip through, so it's still worth doing a regular privacy audit and ensuring your security is as up to date and as robust as the settings permit.

On a more general security point - do use MFA if you are not already - but be aware scammers are trying to get hold of your one-time security codes and session ids through social engineering attacks and do not give them out to anyone, irrespective of how convincing a text/IM or email or phone call may seem.

if you live in the UK there is a convenient short code that can and should be used to report all attempts to get your security info, in the US I believe there are similar reporting mechanisms available and recently CISA has been improving transparency and improving the quality and timeliness of security bulletins,

That does not just remove the immensely irritating news feed