This morning, I got the kind of e-mail that most of us ignore: “Update to our terms of service” from Microsoft. But I love waking up to read a good contract in the morning, so I had a look at the summary of changes to the “Microsoft Services Agreement,” which applies to things like Skype, Office 365, OneDrive, and a whole list of other services. The summary turned out to be a 27 bullet point document of mostly bland changes — except for point 5:
5. In the Code of Conduct section, we’ve clarified that use of offensive language and fraudulent activity is prohibited. We’ve also clarified that violation of the Code of Conduct through Xbox Services may result in suspensions or bans from participation in Xbox Services, including forfeiture of content licenses, Xbox Gold Membership time, and Microsoft account balances associated with the account.
Looking through the full text of the new agreement, I found the relevant change in Section 3(a)(iv):
Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, or criminal activity).
So wait a sec: I can’t use Skype to have an adult video call with my girlfriend? I can’t use OneDrive to back up a document that says “fuck” in it? If I call someone a mean name in Xbox Live, not only will they cancel my account, but also confiscate any funds I’ve deposited in my account? (And are we no longer allowed to shoot people in Call of Duty? Animated violence doesn’t really get any more “graphic” than this Microsoft-approved video game offers.)
And how are they going to enforce this ban? Are they going to be looking through my Skype sessions? Section 3(b):
When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue.
Got it.
What’s clear here is that Microsoft is reserving the right to cancel your account whenever they feel like it. They do nothing to define “offensive language” (or “graphic violence,” for that matter) and in 2018 when anyone can be offended by anything, these terms allow Microsoft staff to play unrestrained censor if and when they choose. Given that Google’s YouTube uses that power to remove politically “sensitive” videos (like those on legal firearm modifications), should we expect that Microsoft will also be removing content and users to earn PR points with the politically correct movement du jour?
What’s also clear is that they reserve the right to go through your private data, and these terms seem to pretty clearly allow them to watch and listen to your Skype calls, so long as they are “investigating” something. The terms don’t appear to require any complaint to be filed against you — just that an employee decide that they want to “investigate.”
I’ll be setting my Skype account not to renew itself.
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[Update 2 – I’ve been banned from Reddit’s /r/Microsoft for sharing this story…
Professional Troublemaker ® 
Wow. Did Microsoft just give me an excuse to cut ties with Office forever? You mean we won’t have to pay $120 a year for the privilege of using Word?
If I’m reading this right, I guess I’ll be shopping around for a new word processor…preferably one that allows me to say “fuck.”
I’ve just spend the past hour doing that, because it sounds like Microsoft is of the opinion that I can either write only G-rated children’s stories in Word or stop using Word. Challenge accepted! So far, LibreOffice is the replacement that’s looking like it will work best.
Would Microsoft new terms of service spell doom for the writing industry and publishers? Hard to say, it’s possible. I haven’t use MS word for very long time. Libre Office is good, scrivener is good and ditto for yWriter.
It’s time to migrate for those to Migrate from MS Office, to word perfect and various other word processors.
Way to go social justice warriors and elite for ruining things for everyone.
After all this discussion, I’m not persuaded that Microsoft has any intention of policing private conversations. Come on, guys, and I mean that in a sexist way. Because I don’t think any women would be this foolish. Microsoft obviously cannot legally eavesdrop on people’s private conversations, making enforcement of a global content restriction policy quite stupid.
Let’s all take a deep breath until, maybe April 14, and MS a chance to respond and explain itself.
Could you please comment on the word ‘publicly’ in the T&Cs? Doesn’t it refer to you posting such content in a public chat, as opposed to a private chat with your girlfriend?
I think you are not interpreting the terms correctly.
Can Microsoft really be trusted to implement such a feature when they couldn’t prevent its Twitter AI Bot “Tay” from being taught how to be racist and sexist? How soon before a simple word like “and” is taught to the bot as an offensive word?
I spoke with a microsoft worker through their contact us help thing and discussed the issue. They said they will not just be browsing through people’s file and messages and that they were sorry it wasn’t clear. They will only go through your things if someone reports you. They will then investigate the issue to see if the report was true. Then they will take action about it. But seeing how if you’re reported at random and violate the terms just in general, you will more than likely get in trouble for it so I’d sadly suggest moving onto different message/writing platforms just in case.
One thing everyone should keep in mind. If a person complains about something, the owners of a site, or staff with privileges, can always see the content, even if it is deleted in most cases. I help moderate a political site. As staff, I can see deleted content. So, posting something and leaving it long enough for the other person to see then deleting the post doesn’t prevent me from seeing it or taking action on it. If anything, it shows that they knew they did wrong.
Same goes with private messages or other ‘one on one’ methods that are hosted and stored on another site. Let’s take facebook for example. I get a private message, PM, from someone whom I think is a scam. I report the PM to facebook. Facebook can then go look at the message, private or not, even deleted most likely, and see if what I reported is accurate and then take whatever action, including looking at other messages that person may have sent to others. I might add, the owners of the site I help moderate can do the same thing. If I get a complaint that Member A is getting PMs from member B wanting money, date or some other scam, I report that to the owners. They then go pull up member B’s account and look not only at the PM in question but also all the other recent exchanges of messages. If the report turns out to be true and happening with other members, who didn’t complain, the member is banned.
I don’t use the service that this article talks about but they can set pretty much any rules they want. If one doesn’t like their rules, then the only option they have is to leave the service. If enough people do that, then it will affect their bottom line and lead to one of two things. The company not being able to provide the service or another company starting up with better rules to provide that service. Sadly, to often companies make these changes and most don’t even know they are made or don’t care.
These are the times that I’m proud to be an Apple sheep. Apple has their own problems with the App Store, but they definitely don’t ban accounts. However, FaceTime, iMessage, etc are e2e encrypted and Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Apple’s office) are completely free since you bought Apple hardware. FUCK Microsoft 😊