Beginning with System Mechanic version 20, the privacy tools in the System Mechanic family of products have been consolidated into the Privacy Guardian feature, the lone iolo product portfolio item devoted totally to privacy.
Privacy Guardian is available as a free 30-day trial in System Mechanic standard and System Mechanic Pro, and as a permanent component of System Mechanic Ultimate Defense.
Any Windows 10 data collection settings that you have disabled using the free trial of Privacy Guardian will remain disabled even after the trial expires.*
Therefore System Mechanic standard users who wish to continue enjoying the benefits of Privacy Shield’s data-collection thwarting tools, should simply activate their free 30-day Privacy Guardian trial, and make the desired adjustments to Microsoft telemetry, location services and other invasive features from within the Privacy Shield tab in the Privacy Guardian interface.
It is useful to think of Privacy Guardian as a comprehensive privacy feature that now helps protect your personal data both on- and offline:
Privacy Guardian helps prevent online data mining
Congress has overturned F.C.C. rules requiring broadband providers to get your permission before selling your private data to advertisers, making it even more important to erase traces of your online actions. Privacy Guardian lets you customize which types of browser and cookie data are cleared whenever it performs a manual or scheduled data clearance.
Privacy Guardian helps prevent operating system data collection
Default Windows® 10 settings enable Microsoft to collect detailed personal information about your computer use. Many of these settings are buried within the OS and not easy to turn off. Privacy Guardian lets you disable these Windows settings in one convenient wizard:
• Microsoft Diagnostics, Data Collection and Telemetry Services
• Location Services
• SmartScreen Service
• Windows Feedback Service
For more information, please see the Privacy Guardian FAQ page.
*It is possible that Microsoft could re-activate telemetry or other data collection tools in a future Windows update.