New South Wales Education Department Caught Unaware After Microsoft Teams Began Collecting Students' Biometric Data (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0177638429
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/19/1331229/new-south-wales-education-department-caught-unaware-after-microsoft-teams-began-collecting-students-biometric-data
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/19/nsw-education-department-caught-unaware-after-microsoft-teams-began-collecting-students-biometric-data
> In March 2025, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education discovered that Microsoft Teams had [2]begun collecting students' voice and facial biometric data without their prior knowledge. This occurred after Microsoft enabled a Teams feature called 'voice and face enrollment' by default, which creates biometric profiles to enhance meeting experiences and transcriptions via its CoPilot AI tool.
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> The NSW department learned of the data collection a month after it began and promptly disabled the feature and deleted the data within 24 hours. However, the department did not disclose how many individuals were affected or whether they were notified. Despite Microsoft's policy of retaining data only while the user is enrolled and deleting it within 90 days of account deletion, privacy experts have raised serious concerns. Rys Farthing of Reset Tech Australia criticized the unnecessary collection of children's data, warning of the long-term risks and calling for stronger protections.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~optical_phiber
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/19/nsw-education-department-caught-unaware-after-microsoft-teams-began-collecting-students-biometric-data
stronger protections that can't be waved with an E (Score:2)
stronger protections that can't be waved with an EULA or forced to give up to us app.
Big surprise (Score:1)
Gates wants this kind of "data" for his pdf file friends. So evil
Time to jail MS executives... (Score:1)
These people think the law does not apply to them.
Re: Time to jail MS executives... (Score:2)
We cannot jail them because, as they have demonstrated many times, the law does not apply to them.
Re: Time to jail MS executives... (Score:2)
It does not. That was proven when Bush's AG Ashcroft let Microsoft off with a hand slap instead of breaking them up.
We need worldwide Data / Privacy standards (Score:3)
Like the title says. I know governments will despise it, but it needs to happen. The law also needs penalties so severe, and immediately enacted upon breach, that it terrifies company leadership. So not just a little fine, a "You do this and you will probably not make a profit for years, assuming your business is not disintegrated" kind of fine.
Unfortunately it has to be this way because even with "large" fines it's become a cost of doing business thing. Since business treats it that way, it needs to become a "put you out of business" kind of fine.
The fine should probably include a claw back of all compensation of C-Levels for the duration of the breach. They want to claim the ship only runs true with them at the helm, they have take the responsibility for everything the ship does daily.
Re: We need worldwide Data / Privacy standards (Score:2)
I think it should hit where it really hurts: putting people in jail. For some reason when companies do horrible stuff they get away with it by paying fines. Make it someone's personal responsibility.
so force them to live in australia? (Score:2)
so force them to live in australia?
Re: (Score:2)
You want to hurt wealthy people, take away their money. Look at all the crap they go through to get that little bit more when they already live in luxury that would make someone like Croesus blush with envy. I'm not talking a little fine her, I mean making them dirt effing poor.
I do agree that in the case of something like the opioid crisis the Sackler family helped create, with the associated loss of life, prison should be mandatory and scaling with the effect. As we look at the opioid crisis, tell me t
Re: (Score:2)
Except the problem here is government. It was the government that broke the law, when their IT group chose teams or perhaps accepted an updated EULA that violated their own data privacy laws. It does not sound like Microsoft ever offered or was asked to provide a customized teams, that did data collection differently.
Imagine if someone in the food service department went over to the local home store a bought a bunch of containers, not food safe, and put the school lunch supplies into them. Would you blam
Re: (Score:2)
But can an updated EULA override and signed contract?
Should the school just shutdown each time the EULA is updated for legal to look it over? (but even to log into set all users to disabled may need you to get past that new EULA)
Re: (Score:2)
EULA's need to go the way of the Dodo as they stand now anyway. They're nothing less than "COMPANY GETS TO DO WHATEVER IT WANTS AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT TOUGH" documents. We've spent 50 years creating legal fictions that give corporations more rights than people, and it has to be rolled back.
Re: (Score:2)
Looks like they stop it it, and had MS delete data. Although MS claims it takes up to 90 days to delete data.
Big shock, violating children now (Score:2)
They violate the consent of adults with impunity, so of course they're going to do the same to children.
I was unaware (Score:2)
Since the dawn of Facebook I've been doing my best to keep out of databases, but I use Teams a lot for work, so presumably Microsoft has a lot of data on my face and voice now, all linked to a user ID that matches my real name and a geographical location that is significantly off by IP but very close to the billing address they have for my employer.
In other words, I have to assume I'm 'in the system' and no longer have the faintest hope of anonymity even against less than state-level actors.
Re: Use only OPEN SOURCE systems. NEVER Microsoft. (Score:4, Insightful)
Here in Denmark we also suffer from commercial software in education: Already in our equivalent to high-school, the students are locked into Office365, and that becomes the de-facto office suite from that on. The engineering students all learn Matlab. Very hard to change to Python later on. Also a good reason that all education shall be done on Open Source only, no matter if the proprietary software is given "for free".