Microsoft Office 365: Difference between revisions

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===Forced upsell===

In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced upsell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and disabled the option to downgrade, forcing the user to contact Microsoft support in order to opt out of the newly introduced Copilot AI features. The forceful upgrade was at the user's expense, and the downgrading process through support, according to Shrimp, was very time consuming. It is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website without contacting support. If you go to the first page of the cancellation process, there should be an option to downgrade to the "Classic" plan.

In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced upsell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and disabled the option to downgrade, forcing the user to contact Microsoft support in order to opt out of the newly introduced Copilot AI features. The forceful upgrade was at the user's expense, and the downgrading process through support, according to Shrimp, was very time consuming. It is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website without contacting support. If you go to the first page of the cancellation process, there should be an option to downgrade to the "Classic" plan.

===Obfuscation of local saving in favor of OneDrive (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)===

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Versions other than the Enterprise or Education volume licensing editions do not allow turning telemetry off fully. Moreover, the setting is configured to the least private setting by default.

Office transmits data about 23 000 to 25 000 different types of events <ref>https://www.privacycompany.eu/blog/impact-assessment-shows-privacy-risks-microsoft-office-proplus-enterprise</ref> (other reports in context of the German BSI audit speak of 30 000 types of events) to Microsoft. Microsoft can adjust the level of detail transmitted remotely. This can go up to every single keystroke being broadcast live to Microsoft servers in the background.

Office transmits data about 23 000 to 25 000 different types of events<ref>https://www.privacycompany.eu/blog/impact-assessment-shows-privacy-risks-microsoft-office-proplus-enterprise</ref> (other reports in context of the German BSI audit speak of 30 000 types of events) to Microsoft. Microsoft can adjust the level of detail transmitted remotely. This can go up to every single keystroke being broadcast live to Microsoft servers in the background.

Given that it is not uncommon in some countries even for hospital to run consumer versions of the software, the privacy implications are tremendous. It cannot reasonably be assumed that any data entered into nor any interaction with a Microsoft Office application will stay private.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ===Forced upsell===
-In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced upsell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and disabled the option to downgrade, forcing the user to contact Microsoft support in order to opt out of the newly introduced Copilot AI features. The forceful upgrade was at the user's expense, and the downgrading process through support, according to Shrimp, was very time consuming. It is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website without contacting support. If you go to the first page of the cancellation process, there should be an option to downgrade to the "Classic" plan.
+In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced upsell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and disabled the option to downgrade, forcing the user to contact Microsoft support in order to opt out of the newly introduced Copilot AI features. The forceful upgrade was at the user's expense, and the downgrading process through support, according to Shrimp, was very time consuming. It is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website without contacting support. If you go to the first page of the cancellation process, there should be an option to downgrade to the "Classic" plan.
 ===Obfuscation of local saving in favor of OneDrive (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)===
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 Versions other than the Enterprise or Education volume licensing editions do not allow turning telemetry off fully. Moreover, the setting is configured to the least private setting by default.
-Office transmits data about 23 000 to 25 000 different types of events <ref>https://www.privacycompany.eu/blog/impact-assessment-shows-privacy-risks-microsoft-office-proplus-enterprise</ref> (other reports in context of the German BSI audit speak of 30 000 types of events) to Microsoft. Microsoft can adjust the level of detail transmitted remotely. This can go up to every single keystroke being broadcast live to Microsoft servers in the background.
+Office transmits data about 23 000 to 25 000 different types of events<ref>https://www.privacycompany.eu/blog/impact-assessment-shows-privacy-risks-microsoft-office-proplus-enterprise</ref> (other reports in context of the German BSI audit speak of 30 000 types of events) to Microsoft. Microsoft can adjust the level of detail transmitted remotely. This can go up to every single keystroke being broadcast live to Microsoft servers in the background.
 Given that it is not uncommon in some countries even for hospital to run consumer versions of the software, the privacy implications are tremendous. It cannot reasonably be assumed that any data entered into nor any interaction with a Microsoft Office application will stay private.