Kill Activity History in 24H2?

Anyone have any info on the Activity history in 24H2?

I've found pages stating that MS disabled uploading it to their servers due to privacy concerns (no kidding, LOL). But I don't see where they've actually disabled it locally.

This MS page suggests that you can kill it in Settings > Privacy and Security > Activity log. But there do not appear to be any options there for the Activity Log. I found one non-MS reference acknowledging that it's no longer there... but not where it's gone to. Windows activity history and your privacy - Microsoft Support

You can hit Group Policies and set Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > OS Policies and disallow three policies to prevent upload to MS. But there's no "stop logging" option I see.

BUT, there's still an activities database being generated in the folder C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ConnectedDevicesPlatform\L.username. You can delete the db if you stop the Microsoft Cross Platform Device Service / CDPUserSvc_xxxx. But it will come back when you restart your machine.

just as a heads up here.
in the registry there are 3 entries for CDP services
while in services there are only 2 entries.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

maybe these entries have something to do with logging, but thats just a guess.

best of luck, Steve ..

I disable the Connected Devices Platform Service (CDPSvc) service. While I have an activity log file where you mentioned it, it hasn't been written to since I installed Windows.

CDP isn't a telemetry service, it's to help sync multiple PC and devices you may have linked under the same MS Account. This is sync data.

Disabling CDP services can break some device features related to linked smartphones and Bluetooth devices. It's not absolutely required to run Windows, but the feature can actually be useful. None of this is used to report user activity to MS.

Levitate11 said:

This MS page suggests that you can kill it in Settings > Privacy and Security > Activity log. But there do not appear to be any options there for the Activity Log. I found one non-MS reference acknowledging that it's no longer there... but not where it's gone to. Windows activity history and your privacy - Microsoft Support

Click to expand...

Note: The option to send activity history to Microsoft has been deprecated from Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2, January 23, 2024-KB5034204 update. Previous Windows 11 versions before this update would still have the option available on their activity history page, and if enabled, activity history data will still be sent to Microsoft.

Click to expand...

XxXxX said:

just as a heads up here.
in the registry there are 3 entries for CDP services
...

Click to expand...

Yes... thanks. Set them all to "don't do that" in my test above. Log was still recreated at login.

pseymour said:

I disable the Connected Devices Platform Service (CDPSvc) service. While I have an activity log file where you mentioned it, it hasn't been written to since I installed Windows.

Click to expand...

I'll do some testing then. The Activity.db file was 1024K. After I killed the service, deleted the log, and rebooted, the db file was recreated at a 4K size. This morning it is back to 1024k. The modification date shows it was updated at initial boot today. Maybe it peaks there.

BruceR said:

Note: The option to send activity history to Microsoft has been deprecated from Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2, January 23, 2024-KB5034204 update. Previous Windows 11 versions before this update would still have the option available on their activity history page, and if enabled, activity history data will still be sent to Microsoft.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's the same info I found. Note that it refers to sending the activity history to MS and the ability to turn that on/off. It leaves anything about collecting the activity history unsaid.

garlin said:

CDP isn't a telemetry service, it's to help sync multiple PC and devices you may have linked under the same MS Account. This is sync data.

Disabling CDP services can break some device features related to linked smartphones and Bluetooth devices. It's not absolutely required to run Windows, but the feature can actually be useful. None of this is used to report user activity to MS.

Click to expand...

Yes, I saw the part about Bluetooth devices in the CDP service descriptions. That's the reason I didn't disable the service. I don't use BT a lot, but I'm envisioning a day in the future when I try to hook it up and it doesn't work... then I'm left trying to remember what I might have done to kill it at some distant point in the past.

BUT, I'm going to run the scientific approach on this. I'll hook up some BT devices as a test. Kill the service. See if they still work. Throw in a few reboots and other configurations. I'll see if it really matters.

It appears the CDP allows (allowed?) the sharing of the Activity Log across devices. That's why it has the DB file open.

It also looks like they've just hacked out the Activity Log pieces in 24H2. There's no way to view the log locally that I can find (?). It's no longer uploaded to your MS account so 24H2 users can't see it there although perhaps you can turn that back on. I'm guessing they didn't have time and/or didn't bother to fix CDP and it still "needs" the log to function until the update that code.

Levitate11 said:

After I killed the service, deleted the log, and rebooted, the db file was recreated at a 4K size. This morning it is back to 1024k. The modification date shows it was updated at initial boot today. Maybe it peaks there.

Click to expand...

When you say "the service," do you mean the system service for CDP (CDPSvc) or the user service (CDPUserSvc_xxxxx)?

pseymour said:

When you say "the service," do you mean the system service for CDP (CDPSvc) or the user service (CDPUserSvc_xxxxx)?

Click to expand...

CDPUserSvc_xxxx. That's the one that has the file lock.

Ah, well I have the CDPSvc one disabled, and I'm able to rename the folder, so nothing is writing to it. It hasn't made a new folder or anything.

pseymour said:

Ah, well I have the CDPSvc one disabled, and I'm able to rename the folder, so nothing is writing to it. It hasn't made a new folder or anything.

Click to expand...

I left that running figuring it might be handling other things. I'll expand my bluetooth testing to include both.

If garlin is right, and that's generally the case, it probably doesn't affect me because I don't use an MS account. YMMV.

pseymour said:

If garlin is right, and that's generally the case, it probably doesn't affect me because I don't use an MS account. YMMV.

Click to expand...

Useless trivia: If you disable CDPSvc, OOBE can't finish running.
You can disable it once you're past OOBE, and logged on. Windows is filled with weird rules.