Microsoft seems to have developed a kind of addiction to telemetry, while some users have decided to react with the virulence of a crusade to eradicate it. The market offers several automatic resources, but perhaps the detail has escaped that the Malicious Software Removal Tool sends a telemetry packet called Heartbeat, regardless of the privacy configuration that has been established. The instructions to disable that telemetry are documented, and we share them here.
Discussing why makes no sense these days. We have always doubted the apparent need that modern programs have to 'call home', while their developers insist that it is best for the software, the user, and the computer. One of the biggest problems is the lack of information. One part asks for it, the other does not deliver. That difference becomes fertile ground for doubts and speculations, which lead to a very sad conclusion: The user does not trust their software. Therefore, every time we hear the word 'telemetry', we react immediately.
Today we find something we honestly ignored completely: The Malicious Software Removal Tool generates and sends after several scans a telemetry packet called Heartbeat. This packet ignores (according to web data) any current privacy configuration, and Microsoft only describes it as "specific data about detected malware, errors, and other information about your device."
As always, interrupting the telemetry sending in MSRT is opt-out, but before that, we must check if a log is available. In the folder C:\Windows\Debug you may find a file named mrt.log. If its content (assuming the log exists) resembles the first image, the tool sends telemetry. The deactivation is divided into two parts.
How to Disable MSRT Telemetry
The first part is suggested by the official Microsoft KB891716 document. Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT", where you create a DWORD entry named "DontReportInfectionInformation" with a value of 1.
The second part requires a visit to Task Scheduler. There, expand the task library, then Microsoft, and finally Windows, to find the RemovalTools folder. The task should have a name similar to MRT_HB. You can disable it or delete it completely.
Now a detail: I didn't find references to this telemetry on either of my two Windows 10 and Windows 7 SP1 machines. Still, the Windows 7 scheduled tasks had an entry called RemovalTools, totally empty. Check your system. After the GWX madness, I think Microsoft lost the benefit of the doubt.
