Microsoft Teams’ New Location-Based Status Sparks Major Privacy and Legal Concerns

Microsoft Teams is preparing to roll out a new feature that could significantly change how employee presence is tracked in the workplace. By the end of the year, the platform will be able to automatically detect when an employee connects to the company’s office Wi-Fi and update their status to show they are working on-site. This information will be visible to both colleagues and supervisors, raising immediate questions about privacy and legality. Although Microsoft states that the feature will be switched off by default, IT administrators can enable it at the organizational level to improve “transparency and collaboration.” 

The idea appears practical on the surface. Remote workers may want to know whether coworkers are physically present at the office to access documents or coordinate tasks that require on-site resources. However, the convenience quickly gives way to concerns about surveillance. Critics warn that this feature could easily be misused to monitor employee attendance or indirectly enforce return-to-office mandates—especially as Microsoft itself is requiring employees living within 50 miles of its offices to spend at least three days a week on-site starting next February. 

To better understand the implications, TECHBOOK consulted Professor Christian Solmecke, a specialist in media and IT law. He argues that the feature rests on uncertain legal footing under European privacy regulations. According to Solmecke, automatically updating an employee’s location constitutes the processing of personal data, which

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