Surveillance by the New Microsoft Outlook App
The ProtonMail people are accusing Microsoft’s new Outlook for Windows app of conducting extensive surveillance on its users. It shares data with advertisers, a lot of 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
tfb • April 4, 2024 7:18 AM
A thing I have noticed which is just nasty in a couple of apps I use (not Outlook which I don’t use) is that they will show you some enormous list of people they will send your data to, and you can then decline them all, if you are lucky all at once. But the thing knows you have done something it doesn’t want you to do, so a few days later it asks you again. And again. I have never said ‘OK, have my data’ but I am willing to bet that if I did it would ask me either less often or not at all.
And this is applications, so it is not because I’ve nuked state in a browser.
And it is applications for services for which I am paying money.