Edit: from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827312, it does sound like the feature isn't really opt-in for end users though?
End users should not have an expectation of empowerment when using Teams or its predecessors... the administrator can override basically anything.
If you work in a large enterprise they already control everything—or have the capability.
Apologies you both have to deal with this.
This location either uses the named locations I have set up in Entra (we use our public IP ranges for it) or it prompts users for their address if isn't sure. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/emergency-c...
Hence the explicit statement.
This is how I expected the feature to work once I read the real product brief, so that's a plus at least. You might want to tell your product people to ask whoever deals with this stuff at Microsoft anymore if they can, like, talk to the press about it? Various outlets have been running stories for almost a year now about how Teams is going to start sending your WiFi data to your boss.
The wording on the product page also makes it sound like tenant administrators will get to decide how opt-in works (ie - that they could select which options the end-user is allowed to pick, and at Microsoft they happened to give you the freedom of choice); this makes sense from my experience in enterprise software management but also makes the feature seem like it will be incredibly yucky/annoying. Is that just a case of poor wording?
This still seems like a super weird feature to push through in terms of "yuck" to "value," but I also know how that goes.
Kind of like how Microsoft provides services to ICC judges until they won’t?
The scary part is that your boss can question why you are the only one without location info.
2. The feature is in fact useful, so most people enable it. It may even become company policy to have it enabled.
3. Companies who buy this feature ask for a way to force their employees to use it, as it's "confusing" if location data is only available for 90% of the employees. Not it's an opt-out feature, in the best case.
4. VeryGoodCorp is in a bit of trouble with its shareholders. Revenue growth hasn't been as great lately. They realize that they are sitting on a mountain of location data, aggregated from multiple harmless features, that would tell its customers if their employees are slacking off at work. Surprisingly, the customers are willing to pay good money for a "employee productivity score".
5. Profit..
Edit: formatting
Edit 2: Now you may say "well that wouldn't be legal", and depending on the jurisdiction I'm sure it isn't. But that hasn't kept VeryGoodCorp from collecting this data, they just forgot to turn off the toggle for EU you know, honest mistake. But they still have the data, and laws can change, or, you know, made to change.. (Prop 22 anyone?)
1. VeryEvilCorp builds a "harmless" feature that is not harmless and was never intended to be harmless, despite the pretense.
2. People go along with it because they are blind, stupid sheep who will believe anything they're told, as long as it's in the soft, soothing voice of Big Brother.
3. What is not forbidden is mandatory in this Brave New Tomorrow.
4. Everyone is now enslaved. Congratulations! Your name is Toby.
Given that not every device has built in GPS, it sounds like the Network Team is going to have to provide the locations of APs for that to work.
Curious how Teams will resolve that. If you're on your phone using a VPN back to your home network will it know or show you as at home? What happens if you have multiple APs at home?
It's like in Minority Report. Though with not perfect accuracy yet.
Pretty sure that's how it works across all phones. I know that's how Apple gets their location services database at least.
That actually sounds like fun. The result, I mean; not the whole setting-up-a-router bit.
Why in the f does Word need my location (access to location services) for me to write a document? Pops up every time.
Teams already has a location setting, if you wanted to automate that a more correct way would seem to be adding the feature and offering users the opportunity to turn it on. Microsoft hasn't really changed since the IE days it seems.
What do you think the coolest small thing coming to Teams people probably aren't aware of is? Anything cool you've worked on that you're allowed to publicly brag about? How'd you end up working on Teams, just the way things kind of went or something along the lines of what you aimed for?
This happens almost EVERY SINGLE TIME there is a sensationalized headline about something I know about deeply. The title or claim in the article will take a option or feature or some industry where something MAYBE possible and state it as a fact for the propose of creating some kind of fear.
Fear = engagement = ad revenue
Also, about choice: we like to pretend that people are free to choose where they work. They are; if there are no blocking consequences to that choice. For example, between working at Microsoft and letting my family starve? Well, I’ll bite the bullet. The market isn’t amazing, we can be much kinder on people for where they work.
1. I don't speak authoritatively and
2. I don't have knowledge of the whole product - there's always a rogue team here and there doing stuff.
We've had that feature turned on at MSFT for some time now. It does not allow your manager to see that you're at Starbucks, at home, on the shitter or anything like that. There's a new toggle in the calendar settings called "Share location with my organization", and the settings are: "all details: building, desk, etc.", "general location: office or remote", "can't view any location information". What it does when turned on is just adding, at the top of your calendar, icons that tell you which of your colleagues are in office, and if they share and you click on someone's picture, what building they're in (when it works).
The whole "it will tell your manager what your wifi is" is just baseless extrapolation, and plainly false from what I can tell.