Is Microsoft Teams 'Snitching' on Employee Locations?

"A wave of recent reports and social-media posts has claimed that Microsoft Teams will soon begin tracking where employees actually are, revealing whether they are in the office, at home, or elsewhere. Some described the feature as a new form of surveillance or corporate "snitching." Headlines from multiple outlets used terms such as "spying," "exposed," and "watch out," framing the feature as a potential way for managers to keep tabs on their staff."

"On Reddit and X, posts warned that Teams would soon allow companies to "spy on their staff" or automatically reveal when someone wasn't in the office. According to Microsoft's official Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the new Teams feature is designed to automatically update a user's work location when they connect to their organization's Wi-Fi network. The roadmap entry, listed as "in development" and scheduled to begin rolling out in January 2026, said the feature would be off by default, with administrators-not Microsoft-deciding whether to enable it."

Microsoft Teams roadmap lists an 'in development' feature that will automatically update a user's work location when they connect to their organization's Wi-Fi network. The roadmap schedules rollout beginning January 2026. Administrators would decide whether to enable the feature; it would be off by default. Users would have to opt in before their location could be updated automatically. The feature would apply to Teams on PC and Mac and would show only the building or office associated with a corporate network, not a specific address. Social-media posts and headlines characterized the update as new surveillance and warned it could expose where employees actually work.

Read at Miami Herald