You have six more weeks to secretly work from home.
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Updated on January 24th with new analysis for Microsoft Work Location Tracking.
We’ve all been there. Expand hybrid or work-from-home policies as needed. Trust Teams’ classic virtual backgrounds to hide your messy living room or kitchen table from your co-workers. But Microsoft has very bad news.
Microsoft is Microsoft 365 roadmap A clever new feature is about to be added. “When a user connects to your organization’s Wi-Fi, Teams automatically sets their work location to reflect the building they’re working in.” Conversely, if you’re not connected to your workplace’s Wi-Fi, you’ll see that instead and you’ll find out.
as neowin “If you’re late for work, working from home, or doing something in Teams or Outlook from a network other than your organization’s, your employer will know about it. This is obviously not good for workers who work in hybrid setups or don’t like this type of invasion of privacy.”
It appears Microsoft may have been aware of the controversy this update has caused. was originally planned Januarythe update was pushed to February It was then postponed again, this time to March. It is expected to be fully rolled out by the middle of the month.
“Microsoft did not disclose the reason for the delay.” University of California today Say. “This update applies to Teams on Windows desktop and Teams on Mac desktop.”
UC experts also report that Microsoft emphasizes “user controls and guardrails.” Specifically, “This feature is opt-in, turned off by default, and Teams ‘does not update your location’ after work hours and ‘clears your location’ at the end of work hours. ”
However, don’t get too excited. Yes, “this feature is turned off by default,” but Microsoft says that “tenant administrators decide whether to enable it and require end users to opt-in.”
around neowin“Microsoft appears to be trying to balance this by disabling this location tracking feature, requiring IT admins to turn it on, and then having end users opt in, but it doesn’t really help. If organizations force enabling location tracking as a mandatory policy and don’t give employees a way to opt out, this entire process falls apart.”
Why is it so controversial? UC Today asks. The answer is quite simple and leads to broader opposition to work platforms that track location and behavior.
“On paper, automatic workspace configuration sounds like simple UX housekeeping. It’s one less area that users need to manually maintain, and one less point of friction with an already overburdened workforce. In reality, this lies on a fault line that technology buyers are increasingly recognizing: hybrid work is not just about tools, it’s about trust.”
windows central Let’s go further than this. “I speculated that this controversial feature aligns closely with Microsoft’s return-to-office plans, raising the question of whether this is just a coincidence or a deliberate effort to increase workplace oversight and micromanagement.” These are angles that will certainly cause a backlash.
“The company has not provided an explanation for the delay in rolling out this feature.” windows central Say. “Perhaps they are using the additional time to address some of the concerns and issues raised by users.”
When this comes to fruition, I think we’ll see a mix of straightforward opt-in and more nuanced HR management for the new tools that are now generating so many headlines. There may also be additional user protections, such as restrictions on who can see your location.
what teeth However, it is clear that this tool can be used to police compliance with policies when people work outside the office. And many companies will do just that.
“Companies still need to define purpose, access, and acceptable usage, preferably before the first pilot,” UC Today warns. “Otherwise, features built to reduce friction may end up creating friction elsewhere.” Indeed, quite literally.