3 ms·

Surveillance by the New Microsoft Outlook App

65 points by espressoshot 3y ago

nicbou 3y ago
Microsoft is completely blacklisted for me since a few years, and they keep reinforcing my decision. Few companies are so blatantly user-hostile.
- leokennis 3y ago
  On my work laptop, I’m a very happy Microsoft user. I’m assuming all shitty Microsoft behavior is turned off via policies, and even if not, it’s only my work mail and data. The apps work very well, Copilot is nice, the software even looks good. No complaints. On my personal laptop where I cannot get enterprise licenses or preferential treatment, I’m not touching MS stuff even with a loooong stick.
  - abestic9 3y ago
    As an enterprise Microsoft customer, you are treated to the same group policies as everyone else, with one difference that you can reduce OS telemetry collection to “Basic”. There is no way to go radio silent without ring-fencing the OS within the network.
sillywalk 3y ago
Link from Schneier to the original article from Proton Mail[0]: "Some European users who download the new Outlook for Windows will encounter a modal with a troubling disclosure about how Microsoft and several hundred third parties process their data: "The window informs users that Microsoft and those 801 third parties use their data for a number of purposes, including to: Store and/or access information on the user’s device Develop and improve products Personalize ads and content Measure ads and content Derive audience insights Obtain precise geolocation data Identify users through device scanning" also you get to choose your ads layout. [0] https://proton.me/blog/outlook-is-microsofts-new-data-collection-service https://proton.me/blog/outlook-is-microsofts-new-data-collec...
- BramLovesYams 3y ago
  There is a screenshot of this banner from a recent blog post by the Tuta team as well. It shows 813 data sharing partners... https://tuta.com/blog/outlook-shares-passwords-with-microsoft https://tuta.com/blog/outlook-shares-passwords-with-microsof...
- espressoshot 3y ago
  > also you get to choose your ads layout. Its Orwell's 1984 except that you are made to feel free here
- HeckFeck 3y ago
  It wants to share me with 801 partners? How disgusting.
geosh 3y ago
A link to the commentary asks me to share my data with their 165 partners. I find it ironic.
- hulitu 3y ago
  > A link to the commentary asks me to share my data with their 165 partners. I find it ironic. I guess this is the issue here. For some, data collection, is just _ironic_. /s
dredmorbius 3y ago
Discussed at the time (2024-1-11): <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618>
dartharva 3y ago
Outlook is available as a PWA, in case anyone hasn't noticed. You absolutely do not need to be installing the desktop app for most use cases.
- bennyp101 3y ago
  Just don't try and use it with Edge - on my work Ubuntu laptop, the PWA is a steaming pile - locks up, crashes, eats all the CPU - I gave up and just have it as a pinned tab now.
- ale42 3y ago
  I'm not sure the PWA would bring any privacy advantage?
  - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
    Potentially limiting what the app has access to. A "real" app can see your clipboard, files on your disk, and the content of your browser profile (technically a subset of "files" but worth calling out on its own). A web app can "only" see your interactions with the web app and data in it (which in this case includes all your email, so...).
    - ale42 3y ago
      I see the point concerning the limitations of what a PWA can do, but as here it's a question on snooping on emails... it probably wouldn't make any difference on that matter.
- MikusR 3y ago
  The new outlook is literally that PWA.
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
[dupe] Actual article from January Outlook is Microsoft's new data collection service https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618

65 points by espressoshot 3y ago

Microsoft is completely blacklisted for me since a few years, and they keep reinforcing my decision. Few companies are so blatantly user-hostile.

leokennis 3y ago
On my work laptop, I’m a very happy Microsoft user. I’m assuming all shitty Microsoft behavior is turned off via policies, and even if not, it’s only my work mail and data. The apps work very well, Copilot is nice, the software even looks good. No complaints. On my personal laptop where I cannot get enterprise licenses or preferential treatment, I’m not touching MS stuff even with a loooong stick.
- abestic9 3y ago
  As an enterprise Microsoft customer, you are treated to the same group policies as everyone else, with one difference that you can reduce OS telemetry collection to “Basic”. There is no way to go radio silent without ring-fencing the OS within the network.

sillywalk 3y ago

Link from Schneier to the original article from Proton Mail[0]: "Some European users who download the new Outlook for Windows will encounter a modal with a troubling disclosure about how Microsoft and several hundred third parties process their data: "The window informs users that Microsoft and those 801 third parties use their data for a number of purposes, including to: Store and/or access information on the user’s device Develop and improve products Personalize ads and content Measure ads and content Derive audience insights Obtain precise geolocation data Identify users through device scanning" also you get to choose your ads layout. [0] https://proton.me/blog/outlook-is-microsofts-new-data-collection-service https://proton.me/blog/outlook-is-microsofts-new-data-collec...

BramLovesYams 3y ago
There is a screenshot of this banner from a recent blog post by the Tuta team as well. It shows 813 data sharing partners... https://tuta.com/blog/outlook-shares-passwords-with-microsoft https://tuta.com/blog/outlook-shares-passwords-with-microsof...
espressoshot 3y ago
> also you get to choose your ads layout. Its Orwell's 1984 except that you are made to feel free here
HeckFeck 3y ago
It wants to share me with 801 partners? How disgusting.

geosh 3y ago

A link to the commentary asks me to share my data with their 165 partners. I find it ironic.

hulitu 3y ago
> A link to the commentary asks me to share my data with their 165 partners. I find it ironic. I guess this is the issue here. For some, data collection, is just _ironic_. /s

dredmorbius 3y ago

Discussed at the time (2024-1-11): <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618>

dartharva 3y ago

Outlook is available as a PWA, in case anyone hasn't noticed. You absolutely do not need to be installing the desktop app for most use cases.

bennyp101 3y ago
Just don't try and use it with Edge - on my work Ubuntu laptop, the PWA is a steaming pile - locks up, crashes, eats all the CPU - I gave up and just have it as a pinned tab now.
ale42 3y ago
I'm not sure the PWA would bring any privacy advantage?
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  Potentially limiting what the app has access to. A "real" app can see your clipboard, files on your disk, and the content of your browser profile (technically a subset of "files" but worth calling out on its own). A web app can "only" see your interactions with the web app and data in it (which in this case includes all your email, so...).
  - ale42 3y ago
    I see the point concerning the limitations of what a PWA can do, but as here it's a question on snooping on emails... it probably wouldn't make any difference on that matter.
MikusR 3y ago
The new outlook is literally that PWA.

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

[dupe] Actual article from January Outlook is Microsoft's new data collection service https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38953618