Microsoft Office Poses ‘Alarming’ Privacy Risks, Dutch Study Says

Microsoft Corp. collects and stores personal information about how Dutch government personnel use its software without informing them, according to a report commissioned by the Dutch government.

The report found “alarming” results on Microsoft Office ProPlus’ data processing, Sjoera Nas, a senior advisor at Netherlands-based Privacy Company, a consulting company, who co-authored the data protection impact assessment, wrote in a Nov. 13 blog post. The report addresses risks from Microsoft’s storage of diagnostic data on uses of its Office ProPlus software.

“Microsoft systematically collects data on a large scale about the individual use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. ...