Generative AI Tools - Microsoft Copilot - Accessibility, Privacy, & Security
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Summary
- Publicly available resource.
- While Amherst College has an Office 365 and other Windows products contract and purchase agreement, Bing Chat/Copilot has not been added to our campus portfolio yet at this time and does not have commercial data protection. There have been accessibility, privacy, and security reviews of Office 365 and other Microsoft products with commercial data protection, but no specific reviews for Copilot and Microsoft products without commercial data protection.
- Other Microsoft products, such as Office 365, meet Amherst College security, privacy, and incident response standards. Copilot being outside of a college purchase agreement should be treated the same as other publicly available resources. For these applications, use caution and do not share private, sensitive, or personally identifiable information (PII). Do not upload college data or copyrighted materials. Microsoft's current terms of service agreement for products without commercial data protection does not make it clear what data is collected, so treat this as a higher risk for privacy.
- Copilot is accessible for keyboard use and, with screen reader assistive technologies, can serve as assistive technology, allowing control of a computer via preferred input methods such as voice, keyboard, and other input devices. GitHub Copilot's predictive typing can serve as a form of assistive technology by reducing the amount of typing or keyboard use needed. Microsoft products also offer many other accessibility features and options.
- Microsoft offers a statement of commitment to ethical and responsible AI practices.
Content Ownership
- Microsoft does not claim any intellectual property rights over Copilot output.
Privacy Policy
Digital Accessibility
- Link to Microsoft's accessibility statement, documentation, and features information
- Microsoft products conform to the WCAG 2. 1 AA and revised Section 508 standards, and allow for keyboard-only navigation and use with screen reader assistive technology.
- Copilot allows one to control apps and Windows computers with a self-selected preferred input type, such as voice or keyboard-only. Microsoft products have accessibility features, including magnifiers, color filters, live captions for the Edge Web Browser, translation, keyboard shortcuts, accessible modular accessories for input, and accessibility checkers to find and fix issues.