"Microsoft Office, like many companies in recent months, has slyly turned on an “opt-out” feature that scrapes your Word and Excel documents to train its internal AI systems. This setting is turned on by default, and you have to manually uncheck a box in order to opt out.
If you are a writer who uses MS Word to write any proprietary content (blog posts, novels, or any work you intend to protect with copyright and/or sell), you’re going to want to turn this feature off immediately.
I won’t beat around the bush. Microsoft Office doesn’t make it easy to opt out of this new AI privacy agreement, as the feature is hidden through a series of popup menus in your settings:
On a Windows computer, follow these steps to turn off “Connected Experiences”: File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > Optional Connected Experiences > Uncheck box: “Turn on optional connected experiences”"
https://medium.com/illumination/ms-word-is-using-you-to-train-ai-86d6a4d87021
[#]Microsoft #AI #GenerativeAI #AITraining #MSWord #Privacy #Word
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@remixtures 7 submenus and it has some misleading checkbox title?
Why are you still using Microsoft products
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@a1ba @remixtures In the late 2000s / early 2010s, the EU started to mandate that all electronic documents would use open formats. A citizen shouldn't have to buy an expensive licence for a limited proprietary piece of software (try running MS Office on NetBSD?) in order to access public documents. OASIS was to be the norm, and was already ISO.
Then, Microsoft happened, again. They muddied the waters with Office Open XML, played dirty with ECMA then ISO…
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@renard @a1ba @remixtures It did work for the most part though, governments in the EU did standardise around Open Document rather than Microsoft's formats. They're pushing back against it mainly through defaults and insider lobbying, but they did lose the standards battle here.
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@Qazm @a1ba @remixtures afraid not. On practice, while there was a brief moment of lucidity - everything is Microsoft again, and no one seems to give a shit anymore. Just like ni one ever talks about racketiciels any more either.
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@renard @a1ba @remixtures 😮💨☹️
(Admittedly I have an outside perspective. At least in public comms, Microsoft's formats aren't used in Germany as far as I've seen.)
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@remixtures
Hey @libreoffice you might want to highlight this is happening when encouraging people to switch to LibreOffice?
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@FediThing @remixtures
Hey @libreoffice also while we're at it, I submitted a bunch of serious bugreports and I think I'm ready to pay someone for fixing them (unless it costs thousands of dollars), because I want to escape Microsoft products so bad but LibreOffice writer just has a bunch of bugs that make it impossible to produce large documents consistently.
Maybe some people will find this reply and respond. Thanks.
[#]libreoffice #writer #bug #bounty
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@vort3 Thanks for offering to fund developers! You can find them on this page, so try contacting them (or the ecosystem companies): https://www.documentfoundation.org/certified-developers/
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@vort3 @FediThing @remixtures @libreoffice
For people thinking about trying LibreOffice, could you give us some more information on what constitutes large documents and what bugs you encountered?
Personally, years back, I used LO (and before that OO and even StarOffice) to recover docs that MS Office could not open. BUT, those were small (<20 page) .DOC docs, years ago.
Recently, I've used both with docs ~100 pages without problem.
600+ pages, though, I suggest using #TexLatex.
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@chris_spackman @FediThing @remixtures @libreoffice I'm talking about documents full of tables and images and cross references, that are built as a master document and 10+ subdocuments, each up to 300 pages, that should be exported as a 1000+ pages single PDF.
Bugs are related to the text flow and object positioning. The same table or image might be in a different place than when it was, resulting in different layout and amount of pages when you open the file or export a PDF.
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Why do people use latest versions of Microsoft Office? The one that corresponds to Windows 7 still works just fine and has none of that shit.
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@grishka Why do people use any Microsoft products? There are options. @remixtures
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Human, because they've been using them since they first saw a computer and it's hard to change one's habits, especially if the end result of such a change is being able to do the same things you started with, just differently?
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@grishka Yet we do exactly that with other things - every new car is different but does basically the same as the previous one.
I do understand that people are lazy and often do things that are not in their best interests. I've worked very closely with Microsoft several times (i even interviewed there) and they only care about Microsoft.
My point was that you don't have to use Microsoft - if people want to pay money to be exploited, that's their decision. @remixtures
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@human3500 @grishka @remixtures this so very true. I’ve been using Microsoft since my first home computer in 95, as it’s got shittier and bloated up, I’ve been too lazy to switch to anything else.
I’ve been waiting for the thing to push me over the edge, and this is just about it. My daughter (proper computer geek) has been pushing me to Linux for ages. Today is that day I think!
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@JamieR Do it!
Microsoft pushed me away when they rolled out Vista. They changed everything and since i needed to learn a new system, I decided to learn two. I couldn't believe how amazing Ubuntu was and moved over for 99.9% of things shortly after.
I still use Linux for important / private stuff but my laptop is now a Chromebook.
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@grishka @remixtures @human3500 I totally get that, I've been slowly transitioning to Linux and FOSS software in the last years. Especially learning #Inkscape after using Adobe Illustrator for more then ten years alost daily was not easy. But so worth it in the end and while Inkscape of course isn't perfect (neither is Illustrator, not by a long shot) and I do miss some features / workflows from Illustrator I'm super happy I made the switch.
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@remixtures What, exactly, isn't clear to people about "to improve Microsoft products and services, you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content".
https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement/
It's there. It's always been there. And no, you can't "turn it off".
"If you are a writer"? NO ONE should be using software with such an awkward clause in its license.
Like a landlord that comes to snoop in your stuff "to improve our housing facilities". Come on.
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@valentyn 100% this! @remixtures
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@MattMerk @valentyn @remixtures
So here is a conundrum for you. Yes, I already know the answer is use Linux and Libreoffice:
Say you are a healthcare provider. Say you have a HIPAA BAA subcontractor agreement with Microsoft (medical privacy agreement) that Microsoft will keep all medical data private. But then, these AI practices and contractual provisions also exist.
Gee, I wonder which set of legal agreements will prevail?
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@remixtures Only here to shill Libre Office. Been using it for years and it just works. Switch to FOSS and take back control of your data.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
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@remixtures I wonder how all the big corporations feel about having their secrets scraped?
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@remixtures I don't understand is it really hard to switch to other #FOSS alternatives like #Libreoffice and #Onlyoffice.
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@javalps
For most people it's dead easy. There can be problems for people working with very complex documents who need 100% compatibility with co-workers on MS Office, but I wrote magazine and web content for 20 years using first Open Office and later Libre Office. Never had a problem.
@remixtures
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@pthane @javalps @remixtures I reluctantly use MS Word most of the time at work because a good proportion of forms I need to fill out work poorly in LibreOffice. That said, I think I'll change my default application for .doc(x) files to LO and only use Word when LO doesn't work. It's tempting to start creating long new files in Word using https://randomtextgenerator.com/ or a similar site for every non-random file, too.
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@javalps
Wife complains about it not being MS word, which ahe is used to at work.
She also has the option of MS word from 22 years ago, which I found sitting on a work network cd drive, but that is too old and not the same, despite it being able to do 99.999% of what she does at work.
@remixtures
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@SuperMoosie @remixtures I use #Obsidian and I want everything in Obsidian. My friend use #Notion and want everything in Notion. If I or my friend have to change our workspace, it would be difficult & frustrating even if our work are mostly identical, just note-taking.
What I want to say is, I understand you.
The thing with software is, it's just like life. New things come up every once in a decade and you've to adapt to it. Like life, new problems new solutions.
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@SuperMoosie Divorce is always an option. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
@javalps @remixtures
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@MattMerk @SuperMoosie @remixtures Don't say that.
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@javalps Too soon? @SuperMoosie @remixtures
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@MattMerk @SuperMoosie @remixtures ???
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@javalps !!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/dqz2y1/what_does_too_soon_mean_in_response_to_a_joke/?rdt=45449
@SuperMoosie @remixtures
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@MattMerk @SuperMoosie @remixtures What I'm saying is, you should not go for a divorce just because you wife uses #MSword.
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@javalps Um, I understand that when talking about computer technology, many people can't see when something is a joke. What I said was a joke. Clearly no sane person would recommend someone get a divorce because of their spouse using a perticular brand of software ...
... unless it was published by Microsoft!!!
Again, a joke ... (probably).
@SuperMoosie @remixtures
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@MattMerk @javalps @SuperMoosie @remixtures "Nobody got divorced for buying Microsoft"
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@dpwiz @MattMerk @SuperMoosie @remixtures Yeah ! My bad. I didn't realise it was a joke.
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@SuperMoosie @remixtures @MattMerk This chat
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@remixtures thanks for sharing.
That's horrible, and I guess illegal in Europe + UK because I don't see it in my settings (I am currently in UK)... Would be good if other countries improved their privacy laws to at least match European ones..
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@elduvelle @remixtures This setting appeared in my Office 2021 here in Berlin and was checked by default.
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@mwehle @elduvelle @remixtures
Yep, same here from The Netherlands.
Edit:
Though while the options were turned on by default for me, the linked privacy policies here don't seem to cover AI-training specifically. Perhaps that's where and how the EU-protections are implemented then.
Edit 2:
Ah, nevermind, found it. 😅
Edit 3:
Ah, and the exclusion of content of documents here "because GDPR". Found here
https://support.microsoft.com/nl-nl/office/diagnostische-gegevens-in-microsoft-365-f409137d-15d3-4803-a8ae-d26fcbfc91dd?ui=nl-nl&rs=nl-nl&ad=nl
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@roelant thanks for the additional info, I don't suppose you would have the same link in English?
@mwehle @remixtures
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@elduvelle @roelant @remixtures
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/diagnostic-data-in-microsoft-365-f409137d-15d3-4803-a8ae-d26fcbfc91dd
If you go down to the very bottom of the page you can change the locale to the one you prefer.
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@mwehle thank you!
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@elduvelle @remixtures This thread holds the only important info. Why is it so far down?
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@elduvelle @remixtures I have not found the setting either (CH).
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@remixtures Good timing. My Office 365 subscription just renewed a few days ago, and I was lamenting that I wasn't getting my money's worth from it. Well, now I have LibreOffice installed and got a $75 refund. Thanks.
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@remixtures how about an opt-out from Microsoft
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@remixtures
I'll make sure it's turned on while I test some VBA code to generate gigabytes of pseudorandom numbers and create a bunch of charts from them.
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@remixtures And you really think that it in reals this option work? 😀
Microsoft to believe - disrespect youself.
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@remixtures
And do this each time Windows updates.
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@remixtures Thank you for the heads-up.
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@remixtures Could someone please fact-check this? I had a look at the setting in question, and I can't see any reference to data uploads or AI training. I also didn't find any reliable sources that this setting has anything to do with uploading your content for AI training purposes. I'm not saying it isn't conceivable that MS does this, but I don't think the "Optional Connected Experiences" has anything to do with it.
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@bensb @remixtures Your can check it youself if install firewall and look adresses and sites to wich going traffic.
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@bensb I don't see it either but it could be that I'm in the UK or because I use an office version that's associated to my workplace and they already deactivated the option
I mentioned this in an earlier answer:
https://neuromatch.social/@elduvelle/113533511552319929
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@remixtures wonder if this is a thing in europe. I hunted the same checkbox multiple times in dropbox and its just not there. I guess you can't do that in europe due to the GDPR.
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@remixtures @Mrfunkedude
@FirewallDragons
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@remixtures Thank you
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@remixtures Nah tell you what I did. I manually uninstalled Windows and put Linux on everything for free 👍
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@B_Whitewind BAM!!! That's the way to do it! @remixtures
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