If the Optional Connected Experiences is turned on in Word, is data sent back to Microsoft used to train LLM AI?

Question

We are a charity and we deal with sensitive personal data. Answers @ Microsoft encouraged me to submit my question via the response here. If the Optional Connected Experiences is turned on in Word, is data sent back to Microsoft used to train LLM AI? Microsoft Answers suggested that this is the case. This is not indicated in the Optional Connected Experiences on/off toggle. What are we losing by turning this off? How is our data used>? How can we turn this off for my Organisation?

We are not happy that, as indicated by MS answers, our data is being used to train AI given the well documented environmental impact.

Answer 1

Hi @Mark Reel

According to article "Overview of optional connected experiences in Office", when you use any of the optional cloud-backed services described in this article, Microsoft may collect required service data that may contain "personal data" as defined by Article 4 of the European GDPR.

It is also stated in this article: These cloud-backed services are optional. Whether you use them is up to you. They're provided to you under the terms of the Microsoft Services Agreement and privacy statement.

As Harry.Liu has answered to you in Answers community, based on "How we use personal data" in Microsoft Privacy Statement, it is speculated that Microsoft may use your data to develop and train our AI models.

If you turn off Connected Experiences, some related cloud service features will be unavailable. Such as "Analyze Data" in Excel, "Designer" in PowerPoint. For more, please refer to "Connected experiences in Office".

In addition to these functions, you can still use Office software to process text, data, etc.

For some Office apps on Windows devices, to turn off Connected Experiences in organization, you may use group policy: User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016\Privacy\Trust Center

• Allow the use of connected experiences in Office

For individual computers where Group Policy is not available, you can turn these experiences off in one Office app via going to File > Account > Manage Settings (In Outlook it's under File > Office Account). The reference is: Connected experiences in Microsoft 365.

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