Before You Type Client Information Into Word, Check This Setting
Many lawyers, accountants, doctors, and other professionals still think of Microsoft Word primarily as a desktop program.
Open a document. Type. Save. Close.
Increasingly, that assumption is incomplete.
Modern versions of Microsoft Office include connected services and AI-powered features capable of analyzing content, suggesting edits, summarizing text, rewriting sections, and generating recommendations.
When users activate certain features — such as Copilot requests, AI-powered summaries, rewriting tools, grammar suggestions, or connected experiences — document content or relevant excerpts can be transmitted to Microsoft for processing.
That does not mean Microsoft continuously uploads every document you type.
Simply opening a document and working in Word does not automatically send entire files into the cloud in the background. While the issue is more nuanced, the feature is turned on by default, can be difficult to turn off, and accidents happen.
For professionals handling confidential, privileged, regulated, or sensitive information, they create a different question:
Not: “Can the technology do this?”
But: “Should this information leave my environment at all?”
Examples may include:
• AI-assisted summarization
• Grammar and editing suggestions
• Content recommendations
• Connected cloud experiences
• Copilot interactions
The concern is not whether these tools are good or bad. Some are useful.
Our concern is understanding what is enabled and how those features operate.
To review them in Office:
File → Options → Trust Center → Privacy Settings (or equivalent settings depending on Office version)
We recommend you review items such as these to determine their use to you:
• Connected Experiences
• Experiences that analyze your content
• Copilot and AI-related features
For organizations handling confidential client information, privileged communications, regulated data, or sensitive internal materials, understanding these settings may deserve a place on the same checklist as passwords, backups, and cybersecurity procedures.
Technology continues becoming more powerful and too often not receiving the visibility and consideration they deserve.
Professional responsibility increasingly means understanding what our tools are actually doing.
