The Windows 7 firewall can.
The Windows XP firewall it seems couldn't block outgoing How do I block all outgoing ports in Windows XP firewall?
The Windows 7 Firewall can block outgoing
see where it says "outbound rules" outbound means outgoing
And look at the text under domain,private and public
It states the default policies.. so for inbound, it's a whitelist (that's stricter), for outbound it's a blacklist (that's more lenient).
A blacklist means let everything through unless it's listed to not be let through.
A whitelist means block everything unless it's listed to be let through.
So a whitelist would be more permissive. Like what at a real life event would be called 'by invitation only'. So the packet arrives if it's on the list it's allowed in and the firewall has done its thing for that packet, if the packet is not on the list then continue with the instruction to just block everything. A blacklist is equivalent to when everybody is invited unless they're on a list of people not allowed to come. So a packet arrives, if it's on the blacklist then you block it and the firewall has done its thing for that packet, otherwise, continue to the next instruction which is to allow everything.
For outbound, the default of a blacklist enables you to browse the web easily. The outbound rule is by default the more permissive one.
For inbound, the default is a whitelist.. So if you run any servers(i.e. listening), then a client(i.e. computer initiating a connection) can only reach them, if you have allowed it to.
You can change these policies. And you can add or remove or change rules in the list of rules, for inbound or for outbound.
The actual answer to your question is "Yes". See this widely mentioned article:
Stop Windows 10 spying on you using just Windows Firewall.
But I would like to throw some light of sanity on this question.
The big hype of "Windows is spying on you" is sensational enough to make
good headlines, but the truth is much less interesting.
First, telemetry data is not used for commercial purposes.
Most of it is even deleted within 30 days of its transmission.
Second, Microsoft has become quite transparent about telemetry, and its
latest versions have exposed most of the functions through PC Settings
so they have become optional and controllable by the user.
Third, some parts of this telemetry data are even essential to the correct
functioning of Windows. Without these parts, for example Windows Update
may install incorrect patches with very bad results for the health of your
computer.
It is impossible to tell which "telemetric executable files"
are essential for the correct functioning of your computer.
My best advice for you is to turn off telemetry via PC Settings.
Do not give in to the hype.
As a remark: Microsoft is not the only one that is "spying" on you.
For example see Disable NVIDIA Telemetry.
I really think that stopping it all is
Cutting off the nose to spite the face.
See also :
Best Answer
Google Chrome updates itself without asking you first (Firefox does the same - nothing sinister, just makes sure you always have the latest security patches), and this is separate from Windows Update. Since you're on public wifi, Windows Firewall is stricter about changes to network-accessing software than it would be on a network you marked as private.