NEW PRIVACY LEAKAGE IN OFFICE 2016 FOR WINDOWS

[hlewton]

If this subject is here my search did not find it. I think it is worth taking note of and it also is just another thing MS does to those of us who would never imagine this happening. This comes from a news letter I get and when I copy and paste it the photos probably won't copy but I believe you'll get the idea and how to fix it if you want to like I did. The link I post will show the photos.

NEW PRIVACY LEAKAGE IN OFFICE 2016 FOR WINDOWS
Also online at Office-Watch.com https://office-watch.com/2017/new-priva ... source=wow
Images inserted into your Word documents are being automatically uploaded to Microsoft for the accessibility 'Alt Text' feature. Even if the image and document are saved on your computer, not cloud storage.
It's a hidden 'feature' in Office 2016 for Windows desktop (Office 365 subscribers).
Earlier this year, Microsoft added an 'Alt Text' feature to Office which tries to automatically suggest alternative text. Right click on an image and choose Edit Alt-Text to see a side-pane then click 'Generate a description for me'.

Microsoft's 'high confidence' response to the above image is 'A stone building' <sigh>.
This is done by sending the image to Microsoft's servers and put through the Microsoft Computer Vision Cognitive Service. Like anything sent to Microsoft, it can be used by the company and shared with government agencies, with or without good reason or a warrant.
That would be OK if you had to click the 'Generate a description for me' each time. There's a lesser known and improperly disclosed part of Alt Text which works on other images added to your document.
If you add an image via Insert | Pictures, Office automatically send it to their online system for Alt Text. The text is displayed for a short time after you insert the image.

The automatic, defaulted on feature isn't clear to customers. Doubtless Microsoft will disagree and point to various dialog options. We feel it's an important enough privacy breach to warrant a proper 'upfront' disclosure. Most Office 365 users will get the new feature as part of a slipstreamed update not realizing the major change / info disclosure that's been added.
TURN OFF THE AUTOMATIC IMAGE UPLOAD
You can turn off the automatic generation of alt text but it's hardly obvious. Dig down to Options | Ease of Access | Automatic Alt Text.
UNcheck the box, 'Automatically generate alt text for me'.

We've not seen the 'turn off' option mentioned in Microsoft's documentation of this feature. We suggest you turn the automatic service off and use it only when you click the 'Generate' button in the side pane.
Also ...
Office ‘Alt Text’ accessibility problems
‘Alt Text' has not been refined and fixed once the initial hype died down.

[HansV]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[StuartR]

From what I can tell, if you have disabled "Office intelligent services" in the General tab of the Options dialog box then this feature is also disabled.

[HansV]

Thanks to you too!

[hlewton]

Thanks for the heads-up!

Glad I could finally be of some help.

[stuck]

...disabled "Office intelligent services" in the General tab of the Options dialog box...

I've got Office 365 ProPlus, which uses the 2016 version of Word etc. but when I look in Word | File | Options | General I can't see a section headed 'Automatic Alt text'.

Ken

[HansV]

Have you looked in File > Options > Ease of Access?

[stuck]

Have you looked in File > Options > Ease of Access?

Don't seem to have 'Ease of Access' either.

Ken

[HansV]

What does the navigation pane in the Options dialog look like in your version?

S1722.png

[stuck]

Like this:

wordOptions.jpg

and in case it's relevant, Word is running on Windows 7.

Ken

[HansV]

I don't know whether the "Ease of Access" tab is specific to Office 2016 on Windows 10, or whether your IT department has hidden the Ease of Access tab by means of a policy. I cannot find anything relevant about this.

[PJ_in_FL]

I also don't have the "Ease of Access" tab in Options.

However, while looking around, I found another possible privacy hole in Trust Center under Privacy Options.

Allow sending files to improve file validation - if checked (mine was), this allows Word to send files to Microsoft when it detects "errors" in those files. Don't know if this is automatic, but even if prompted, still a quick slip of the mouse and confidential or critical information could be winging its way across the net.

[hlewton]

I also don't have the "Ease of Access" tab in Options.

However, while looking around, I found another possible privacy hole in Trust Center under Privacy Options.

Allow sending files to improve file validation - if checked (mine was), this allows Word to send files to Microsoft when it detects "errors" in those files. Don't know if this is automatic, but even if prompted, still a quick slip of the mouse and confidential or critical information could be winging its way across the net.

OK this one I can't find unless I am in the wrong area. I will post a screen shot and maybe you can tell me if I am looking in the right place for the option you describe.

Privacy.jpg

[Argus]

Gentlemen,
I think you'll have to agree on which Office version you discuss.

(But I think it's Microsoft’s fault for making a mess of all these settings, and adding some of them in the first place.)

The latest one mentioned, "Allow sending files to improve file validation", applies to Word & Word Starter in version 2010 & 2013, according to Microsoft. I can confirm this setting being present in Word 2010.

See different tabs on this page:
https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... ADAAA=2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[hlewton]

Gentlemen,
I think you'll have to agree on which Office version you discuss.

(But I think it's Microsoft’s fault for making a mess of all these settings, and adding some of them in the first place.)

The latest one mentioned, "Allow sending files to improve file validation", applies to Word & Word Starter in version 2010 & 2013, according to Microsoft. I can confirm this setting being present in Word 2010.

See different tabs on this page:
https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... ADAAA=2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for the clarification and yes I did find that in my Word 2010 settings. Not sure about any of the other posts but my original post was only referring to Word 2016, as far as I know. I no longer have a Word 2013 version to check that out.

[JoeP]

@stuck,

You need to check which update channel you use. If you are not on the Current Channel you may not see this stuff yet. Check File | Account.

Office.PNG

[Argus]

@stuck,

You need to check which update channel you use. If you are not on the Current Channel you may not see this stuff yet. Check File | Account.

I was thinking about that after my post (though some pages at Microsoft include Office 365 in the list of "applies to"), that with Office 365 all bets are off. It's a moving target.

But guess it could also be as Hans suggested.

For example.

Office 365 applications receive regular updates to ensure they can be used seamlessly with assistive technologies and ease of access settings, as outlined in our 2016 accessibility roadmap. Also, new settings are built into applications to empower you to personalize your experiences to suit your needs. Earlier this year, we made you aware of key accessibility updates released in the second quarter and those released in the third quarter.

https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2016/12/ ... inclusion/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jay Freedman]

JoeP is correct. The automatic Alt text is in Version 1706, but not in Version 1705.

You can see the channel and version correspondence at https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... 33ea23def7.

I don't know whether this is true for everyone, but in my copy of 1706 the "Automatically generate alt text for me" option was turned off by default (and is still turned off).

[stuck]

...You need to check which update channel you use...

...The automatic Alt text is in Version 1706, but not in Version 1705...

That explains it, my version of Office 365 is 1704.



Ken

[HansV]

Ah - for Office 365 ProPlus, Deferred Channel is the default, instead of Current Channel.