Well that’s the thing. The new Outlook app is now the default email program on Windows. So you’ll have people setting up their Fastmail, Gmail, GMX and countless other mailboxes on it, just like they always have.

Except this time your password is being given to Microsoft, not just the email app on your computer.

I hope you changed your email account passwords after. What many people don’t realise is that when you fill out the “configure your email account” form, the details aren’t kept local to your PC. You are giving Microsoft the login details to your email account. This is a major departure from how Outlook and Windows Mail used to work.

So you’ve uninstalled the app, but how can you ensure they aren’t still polling your emails?

Break out the Gaviscon!

The Economist explains it well in their article Australia and Canada are one economy—with one set of flaws. The competition regulators in both Australia and Canada aren’t doing their job, allowing oligopolies to form.

It’s a type of endemic corruption and Transparency International should start calling it out.

https://www.economist.com/business/2023/06/01/australia-and-canada-are-one-economy-with-one-set-of-flaws