I usually don’t write about things like this – about privacy, what tech companies are doing in the area of AI, etc. – but I see this as a public service announcement to all of my readers and followers.

If you don’t know it – Microsoft is now quietly using ALL of your documents (personal and professional) to train its AI. The ones on your hardware – not the ones that you save online.

As a writer, I find this appalling because:

1. I didn’t opt-in to this
2. My intellectual property is – just that – mine, unless I choose to share it
3. It’s how I make a living

I checked this out myself and it’s true. Anything that’s on my/your computer – not shared publicly – is fair game.

Microsoft made this change to their Privacy settings in November 2024 and I just found it. How? Through an Instagram video. I couldn’t believe that this might be true but it scared the heck out of me so I checked it out for myself, looking at my Word application and checking the settings.

There it was. I turned off all the permissions.

How can you see if your information is currently being used by Microsoft? There are some steps outlined here, on Medium, as well as others, if you Google the question. Your process for accessing your Privacy settings will be vary, depending on the version of Microsoft that you’re using and the hardware you’re on.

Here’s what I did to turn mine off: In Word, I clicked on “File” in the upper navigation and went down to “Account” in the left-hand navigation (it’s near the bottom). On this page, I found Privacy settings.

In Privacy settings, look for “Connected Experiences.” That’s what they’re calling this. You’ll have to un-check a few boxes (now pre-checked for you!) to ensure that Microsoft no longer has permission to use your Word documents. But it doesn’t stop there.

The same is happening for your other Microsoft documents in other apps, such as Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Once I clicked off these boxes, I had to restart the Word app to have the settings reset. AND I had to exit and restart all my other Microsoft apps to have the settings reset for them, also.

Again, I usually don’t write about this, but it felt like such an invasion of my privacy and intellectual property that I feel compelled to share. I’m guessing that Microsoft’s legal argument for doing this is: you use our product, you agree to our terms, and the onus is on you to READ them (which I don’t, I just update blindly.)

So – BE AWARE of all the products you use – because the company that made the product may “opt you in” to share your input without you knowing it.

If you’re like me and feel as though your thoughts and ideas belong to you to share only when you know about it, and you use Microsoft products, please check your settings.

Even if you DON’T use Microsoft products – please check your settings.

Got different ideas on this? I’m curious… let me know…thanks!