Recent Microsoft update wants to snoop through users’ Office data

Why it issues: A patch lately launched by way of Home windows Replace scared Workplace customers away, as Microsoft was seemingly going after knowledge about older Workplace variations. Now the corporate explains: it is on your personal good, privateness is paramount, and so on.

Microsoft launched the KB5021751 replace in January, explaining that it was to “assist” the corporate establish what number of customers had been nonetheless operating unsupported or soon-to-be-unsupported variations of the Workplace productiveness suite. Microsoft was seemingly trying to find information over customers of Workplace 2013, Workplace 2010, and Workplace 2007, with an replace that will run solely as soon as in “silent mode” to gather knowledge after which take away itself from the system.

Redmond engineers deployed the replace on Home windows installations with the “Obtain updates for different Microsoft merchandise” choice enabled and a duplicate of Workplace 2013, Workplace 2010, or Workplace 2007 put in. Microsoft factors out that the obtain updates characteristic is non-compulsory, and customers can disable it from Home windows Replace’s superior choices configuration web page.

Extra lately, the OS large refreshed the KB5021751 help web page to re-explain how the replace works and why it’s useful for Microsoft’s enterprise and clients. The replace gathers “diagnostic and efficiency knowledge” from Registry entries and utility interfaces (API) to estimate the general utilization of older Workplace releases, says Microsoft Help.

The corporate says that unsupported variations of Workplace are not safe as a result of they do not obtain the newest safety patches, which give probably the most up-to-date safety towards recognized vulnerabilities. Out-of-date variations “would possibly face efficiency and reliability points over time” as properly.

Nonetheless, Microsoft assures customers that KB5021751 doesn’t collect any details about licensing particulars, buyer content material, or knowledge about different “non-Microsoft merchandise.” The corporate “values, protects, and defends” consumer privateness, even when this implies letting clients off the hook on pirated variations of its software program — on paper, no less than.

Microsoft additional mentioned it will use the information gathered by the replace to resolve “how greatest to help and repair” methods with outdated Workplace variations. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a details about the way it will perform the persevering with help. It may push some emergency, out-of-band updates for very harmful (and even “wormable”) safety flaws, for instance, although no precise ensures are supplied.