Microsoft 365 now tracks you in real time?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

What the feature actually does (vs. what the article claims)

  • Commenters dug up the official Microsoft 365 roadmap: Teams will be able to auto‑set a user’s work location when they connect to their organization’s Wi‑Fi.
  • It’s described as off by default; tenant admins can enable it and require end‑user opt‑in.
  • A Teams engineer in the thread says internally it:
    • Only exposes coarse location (office vs remote, optionally building) as a calendar/Teams status,
    • Uses admin‑configured mappings (e.g., AP/BSSID → building),
    • Does not show arbitrary external SSIDs like “Starbucks_Guest_WiFi” to managers.
  • Several people note that IT already has richer data (VPN logs, Wi‑Fi controller logs, endpoint management, e911 location) and this mainly makes a subset visible to regular managers and coworkers.

Concerns about surveillance, power, and legality

  • Many see this as “bossware” and part of a trend toward ever‑tighter worker surveillance, especially of WFH employees.
  • Others argue employers have a legitimate interest in knowing where company devices and sensitive data are, and that privacy on employer apps/devices is minimal by design.
  • There’s debate about legality:
    • Some insist such real‑time tracking would be illegal or heavily restricted in parts of the EU or Canadian provinces.
    • Others expect Microsoft to ship globally with boilerplate that customers must ensure legal compliance.
  • Several point out that legal protections often exist on paper but are weakly enforced, and argue unions or collective action are needed.

Work culture, trust, and asymmetry

  • One side: if you’re being paid for work hours, location during those hours is fair game; abuse of WFH “ruined it” and justifies monitoring.
  • The other: constant tracking treats adults like children, focuses on presence over output, and will be weaponized by petty middle managers.
  • Some emphasize that “just quit” is unrealistic for many, especially where at‑will employment and weak safety nets exist.

Evasion tactics and technical limits

  • Users brainstorm workarounds: browser‑only Teams, separate work phones, disabling location permissions, spoofing SSIDs/BSSIDs with travel routers, VPN tunneling, Pi‑hole/DNS blocking.
  • Others counter that competent IT and MDM can detect or ban such tricks, and that non‑compliance can itself be grounds for discipline.

Meta: AI‑generated, sensational reporting

  • Multiple commenters conclude the linked article is largely LLM‑generated “slop,” with a clickbait headline and hallucinated details (like displaying arbitrary home/Starbucks SSIDs).
  • This fuels skepticism toward unsourced tech news about privacy, even while many still find the underlying feature “gross” or unnecessary.