Microsoft Groups introduces workplace attendance monitoring through Wi-Fi

Microsoft plans to launch the controversial Office Verify-in function in Groups this month. Staff are unlikely to welcome it, as it should permit managers to see whether or not they’re within the workplace.

Microsoft has been suspending the discharge of Office Verify-in since late 2025. The corporate has repeatedly delayed the launch, however the present roadmap now lists June 2026 because the rollout date. Microsoft describes the function as follows:

Checking in at your office through Wi-Fi is an extension of the prevailing options for checking in at a constructing or a reserved workspace, providing larger flexibility and user-friendliness to facilitate coordination with colleagues. When customers connect with their firm’s Wi-Fi, Groups will quickly be capable to replace their work location to point out the constructing during which they’re working. This function is disabled by default. Tenant directors resolve whether or not to allow this function, and finish customers at all times have the selection to permit or decline the sharing of this data.

Office Verify-in doesn’t monitor workers’ actions with exact location information. As an alternative, it detects when a tool connects to the corporate workplace’s Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, at a time when many firms are pushing workers again into the workplace (usually after years of distant work), the function could possibly be helpful for monitoring attendance.

Microsoft is conscious of the considerations raised by information safety advocates and worker representatives and has been trying to reassure them for months.