Microsoft insists that the Office-checking KB5021751 update does not infringe on privacy
In the middle of last month, Microsoft released the KB5021751 update to help the company "identify the number of users running out-of-support (or soon to be out-of-support) versions of Office".
Privacy advocates voiced concern about the update, which Microsoft said "will run one time silently without installing anything on the user's device" because of worries about exactly what the slightly secretive check was doing. Now the company has updated support documentation for the KB5021751 update, insisting that there is nothing nefarious about it.
Microsoft is using the KB5021751 update to see if you have an unsupported version of Office installed
Earlier this week, Microsoft released the KB5021751 update. Unusually it has no fixes or new features for users whatsoever -- it is an update purely for Microsoft's benefit.
Designed for Office 2007, Office 2010 and Office 2013, the slightly sinister-sounding update "will run one time silently" and gather information that is then fed back to Microsoft.