Microsoft 365 — one of the most used software in the world — got banned from using in German schools. The reason is that its privacy measures are not clearly described and explained.
MS 365 is a set of cloud-based productivity tools for collaboration. We all know Office, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, etc. Most of us use them in school or for work purposes.
When working with something for so many years, the habit dictates to close our eyes to some things that actually can turn into major issues. However, the simpler the program, the more attention we should pay to its privacy policy.
If you trust your information to a cloud-based platform, be ready for risks. No matter how GDPR-compliant this service is — public servers are always unreliable. Data breaches, third-party interference, and cyber-attacks — are the main and constant threats to cloud platforms.
Choosing an alternative to MS 365. Self-hosting
Another option is switching to self-hosting — deploying a server on a local network in an organization. When working with on-prem software, it’s only your responsibility how you manage your essential data.
A private server allows independence from power/internet outages, hacker intrusions, etc. Moreover, modern self-hosted solutions are easy to set up and control.
For example, MyChat corporate messenger for teams and businesses can serve almost any field of employment: government facilities, schools, IT, small and large businesses, and others. A big set of tools and features allow for creating a secure communication environment where you can manage messages, files, knowledge base, projects, and tasks.
The public sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors. Usually, it receives financing from the government, so the budget is limited, obviously.
If we check the pricing for some cloud-based services, we see that it is not as affordable as it was. For example, Microsoft 365 plan for 2-6 people is $99/per year while MyChat charges $60 for 10 online connections forever. The math is simple.