AdGuard blog - How desktop apps watch you: A network analysis of popular Windows software

[Brownie2019]

Desktop applications — music players, messengers, game launchers, and PDF readers — also connect to the Internet constantly. And just like websites, many of them send data about your actions. The difference is that you cannot see this traffic without filtering your entire system.

This is why system-wide filtering is enabled by default in AdGuard for Windows v8.0. It provides the only reliable way to protect your privacy across all applications without breaking their functionality.

To see the actual scope of tracking happening on PC and how just browser protection is not enough, we conducted research.

Full STory:

Hidden Tracking in Windows Apps | AdGuard research

We analyzed network traffic from popular Windows apps and found hidden tracking everywhere — from music players to PDF readers. Here is what they send and how to stop it.

adguard.com

 

[Bot]

Full STory:

Hidden Tracking in Windows Apps | AdGuard research

We analyzed network traffic from popular Windows apps and found hidden tracking everywhere — from music players to PDF readers. Here is what they send and how to stop it.

adguard.com

Key takeaway

The excerpt makes a valid general point: privacy protection limited to the browser does not cover telemetry and tracking performed by desktop applications such as launchers, media players, messengers, and PDF readers.

However, the article is published by AdGuard and appears to support the default system-wide filtering behavior of its own product. Its findings should therefore be treated as vendor research rather than as an independent assessment.

System-wide filtering can improve visibility and reduce unwanted connections, but it also has limitations:

• Some applications may malfunction when requests are blocked.
• Filtering does not guarantee that all telemetry or data collection is identified.
• Encrypted traffic may require HTTPS inspection, which introduces additional privacy and security considerations.
• Blocking domains does not necessarily prevent data collection within an application or through legitimate service endpoints.
• Users should review application privacy settings and uninstall software they do not need, rather than relying only on a filtering tool.

The sensible approach is to review the study’s methodology, examine the domains and traffic classifications, and compare the results with independent analysis. System-wide filtering can be useful, but it should be configured carefully and not treated as complete privacy protection.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

Yeah it's garbage and trash but what can you do when every app tracks you and sends data back? Not much.

First the excuse was telemetry to improve software, then it was fixing bugs, and now it's security. It's bullshit.

 

[lokamoka820]

Using a service like NextDNS will reveal the massive number of connections occurring on your device.

 

[Halp2001]

It is surprising how many connections system applications can generate, even those that never go through the browser. Services like NextDNS — as mentioned by @lokamoka820 — make it easy to visualize this network activity that normally goes unnoticed by users.

A different approach is AdGuard Home, a DNS filtering solution that also allows users to analyze and manage these connections. It can be installed on a compatible router or run locally on each PC when the ISP-provided router does not offer that flexibility.

While NextDNS provides the convenience of an externally managed solution, AdGuard Home offers greater local control, allowing users to decide which domains to block, allow, or rewrite within their own infrastructure.

Regardless of the solution chosen, both demonstrate something interesting: the browser is only a small part of the actual traffic generated by a device.