Microsoft is committed to respecting your privacy. As part of that commitment, we provide you with information about what data is collected and used by Microsoft when you’re using Microsoft Whiteboard, as well as privacy settings to control that data. There are privacy settings for diagnostic data and for connected experiences.

Information about these privacy settings is provided to you when you launch Whiteboard for the first time. Afterwards you can review your privacy settings by going to Settings > Privacy and security.

Notes: 

  • If you’re using Whiteboard with a work or school account, your administrator may have configured which settings you’re able to change.

  • If you’re the administrator for your organization, there are privacy settings for Whiteboard that you can configure on behalf of the users in your organization. For more information, see Configure privacy settings for Whiteboard for your organization.

What compliance category does Whiteboard meet?

The Whiteboard apps for Windows 10, iOS, and web meet Tier C, which means that they conform to global standards including SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and EU Model Clauses.

For more information, visit the Microsoft Trust Center.

Diagnostic data for Whiteboard

We collect diagnostic data as you use Whiteboard to help us find and fix problems, identify and mitigate threats, and improve your experience. This data does not include your name, the content of your files, or information about apps unrelated to Whiteboard.

There are two levels of diagnostic data: required and optional.

Required diagnostic data is the minimum amount of data that we need to collect in order to keep Whiteboard secure, up-to-date, and performing as expected. For example, information about the version of Whiteboard installed on the device or information that indicates Whiteboard is crashing when trying to launch.

Optional diagnostic data is data that helps us make improvements to Whiteboard and provides enhanced information to help us diagnose and fix issues. For example, information about how users add sticky notes or text to a whiteboard, which can help us improve the product experience by making changes to the user interface (UI).

Connected experiences for Whiteboard

Whiteboard provides the following connected experiences, which rely on cloud-based services to provide their essential functionality:

  • Insert a Word or PowerPoint document, which uses a service provided by Microsoft Office to convert the selected file to an image that can be placed on your whiteboard.

When you use these connected experiences, Whiteboard collects required service data and sends it to Microsoft. This is data that is necessary to keep the service secure, up-to-date, and performing as expected. Because this data is strictly related to the connected experience, it is separate from required or optional diagnostic data levels.

If you’re signed in to Whiteboard with a Microsoft account, such as a personal outlook.com email address, you can choose to disable these connected experiences by going to Settings > Privacy and security.

Configure privacy settings for Whiteboard for your organization

If you are the administrator for your organization, you can control the following:

  • What level of diagnostic data is collected and sent to Microsoft about the Whiteboard client software running on the user’s device.

  • Whether optional connected experiences in Whiteboard are available to your users.

To configure the level of diagnostic data, sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center with your administrator account. From the admin center home page, go to Show all > Settings > Org settings > Whiteboard.

To configure the availability of optional connected experiences, use the Office cloud policy service in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center. Sign in with your administrator account, and go to Customization > Policy Management. The policy you want to configure is named “Allow the use of additional optional connected experiences in Office.”

Diagnostic data setting for your organization

Note: This information only applies to administrators.

You can choose the level of diagnostic data that is collected and sent to Microsoft about the Whiteboard client software running on devices in your organization. Optional diagnostic data will be sent to Microsoft unless you change the setting in the Microsoft 365 admin center. If you choose to send optional diagnostic data, required diagnostic data is also included.

In addition to Required or Optional, there is also a choice of Neither. If you choose that option, no diagnostic data about Whiteboard client software running on the user’s device is sent to Microsoft. This option, however, significantly limits Microsoft’s ability to detect, diagnose, and remediate problems that your users may encounter while using Whiteboard.

Your users won’t be able to change the diagnostic data level for their devices if they are signed in to Whiteboard with their organizational credentials (sometimes referred to as a work or school account). But if they are signed in to Whiteboard with a Microsoft account, such as a personal outlook.com email address, then they can change the diagnostic data level on their devices by going to Settings > Privacy and security.

Optional connected experiences setting for your organization

Administrators can choose whether to make optional connected experiences in Whiteboard available to their users. These connected experiences will be available to your users unless you change the setting in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

These connected experiences are different because they are not covered by your organization’s commercial agreement with Microsoft. Optional connected experiences are offered by Microsoft directly to your users and are governed by the Microsoft Services Agreement instead of the Online Services Terms.

Even if you choose to make these optional connected experiences available to your users, your users have the option to turn them off as a group by going to Settings > Privacy and security. Your users only have this choice if they are signed in to Whiteboard with their organizational credentials (sometimes referred to as a work or school account), not if they are signed in with a Microsoft account, such as a personal outlook.com email address.

Features that utilize optional connected experiences include:

  • Send feedback

  • Bing image search

  • Link insert

  • Video insert

Required diagnostic data events collected by Whiteboard

The following are the required diagnostic data events collected by Whiteboard, including a list of data fields in each event.

  • Intentional.CanvasObject.Ink.DrawFirstStroke

    Collected the first-time ink is added to a board in Microsoft Whiteboard. This information is critical to catch errors associated with adding ink to a board. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • Action – type of ink stroke

    • Source – input method for ink stroke

  • Intentional.SurfSide.ActivationProtocol.LoadFromUri

    Collected every time when Microsoft Whiteboard is launched by a call from another application or process. This information is critical to catch if Whiteboard does not launch when properly invoked by another application or process. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • ApplicationExecutionState – execution state of app when activation protocol happens

    • IsSignedIn – user is authentication status

    • Kind – application or process which is launching Whiteboard

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.Init.DisplayWhiteboard

    Collected the first time Microsoft Whiteboard is actually displayed on a client per a session. This information is critical to catch launching issues. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • IsPrelaunched – prelaunch status

    • IsProtocolActivation – application launch type

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.Init.StartApp

    Collected every time when Microsoft Whiteboard launches after the previous state ended without crashing. This information is critical to catch crashing issues. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • First Start – first time app was launched on client

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.KeyCategory.UseCategory

    Collected every time a feature is used for the first time (and the first time only) per user/session/whiteboard in Microsoft Whiteboard. This information is critical to make sure the key categories are used. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • CategoryName – Name of the key category

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.KeyFeature.UseFeature

    Collected every time a feature is used for the first time (and the first time only) per user/session/whiteboard in Microsoft Whiteboard. This information is critical to make sure the features are called and used. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • FeatureName – Name of the key feature

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.SafeBoot.StartApp

    Collected every time when Microsoft Whiteboard launches after the previous state ended in a crash. This information is critical to catch crashing issues. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • First Start – first time app was launched on client

  • Intentional.Whiteboard.Scrub.LoadSettings

    Collected every time when Microsoft Whiteboard launches. This information is critical to catch errors associated with user configured settings. Microsoft is using this data to diagnose the issue in order to guarantee Microsoft Whiteboard is running as expected.

    • ActivePen – pen mode state

    • CollectFullTelemetryWithoutSignIn – full telemetry collection without sign in enablement

    • DefaultWhiteboardBackgroundColor – default board background color

    • DefaultWhiteboardBackgroundPattern – default board background pattern

    • FlightStatus – Flight status

    • InkToShape – ink to shape enablement

    • InkToTable – ink to table enablement

    • SignInEnabled – user sign-in enablement

    • SharingWithoutSignInEnabled – sharing board enablement

    • ToolbarLocation – default toolbar location on screen

    • TeamSettingsSource – Teams settings enablement

See Also

Microsoft Whiteboard Help

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