The mobile apps for Microsoft Office and Windows 10 Enterprise do not yet meet the privacy requirements set by the central government. This is evident from a privacy impact assessment by Privacy Company, commissioned by the Strategic Supplier Management Microsoft Rijk (SLM Rijk).
The central government set requirements for the software as a result of an earlier study that the SLM Rijk had carried out. According to that study, some of Microsoft’s software did not comply with the European privacy law GDPR, because sensitive telemetry was sent to the company.
The government then made agreements with Microsoft to modify the operating system and the programs. Now that it appears that this has not yet happened for all software, Tweakers writes.
Problems
Office 365 ProPlus now meets the requirements of the government. Since version 1904, this service includes more features for system administrators to minimize telemetry collection. But that appears in Windows 10 Enterprise, Office Online and the mobile Office apps are not yet the case. In this way, administrators cannot minimize the collection of data in Office Online.
Privacy Company further states that at least three iOS mobile apps for Office data are collected, which are then sent to a U.S. marketing company that specializes in predictive profiling. In addition, users do not receive any information about the purpose of the data collection and the collection is unavoidable.
Telemetry is still collected in Windows 10 Enterprise. However, the new audit shows that this can be minimised by system administrators.
No obligation
Based on the results, Privacy Company advises system administrators to stop using Office Online and mobile Office apps. For Windows 10 Enterprise, it is recommended to minimize data collection.
The government is not obliged to have the audits carried out. However, this is a recommendation. It is therefore not clear whether the government will adopt the recommendations of the Privacy Company’s report.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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