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Some important changes are being made to how we use Microsoft Office 365 and its applications (apps) on our personal devices. These are all things you will see in the coming weeks and include what to do when you see a pop-up box about Terms and Conditions of Use and security around using personal devices to access your ECC account. Keep an eye on your computer of any changes. We will update as soon as we have more specific details.
Accepting Terms and Conditions of Use prompt
When you try to access an Office 365 application, such as Word or Outlook or Teams, or log into http://office.com with your ECC account on any device you use, ECC device or personal device (such as mobile phone, tablet or laptop) you will be asked to accept the latest Terms and Conditions of Use. This will simply appear as a pop-up prompt which will ask you to accept or decline.
If you decline you will be able to continue to use your device to access the internet and some other systems, such as TCS but you will not be able to use any of the Microsoft apps with your ECC account until you have accepted.
Don’t panic – if you accidently click on decline, simply restart your laptop or try to access any Office 365 application again and the prompt should appear.
It will appear every 90 days after that and you just need to read and accept the Terms and Conditions of Use when the prompt appears.
Changes to accessing your ‘work’ account on non ECC devices
We will soon make a change to how you access your work account on non-Essex County Council (ECC) devices (personal devices).
The change may impact anyone who uses a non-ECC laptop or desktop computer to access their ECC email etc. It does not impact your use of an ECC device, and it does not affect your use of a personal mobile device (iPad, iPhone or Android device).
We are making this change as we have recently discovered that Office 365 allows people to download information to a personal device in some instances without it being secure. This is an unacceptable security risk as it means we are unable to remotely wipe the data if a person leaves ECC or if a personal device is lost or stolen.
This is not a risk ECC is prepared to take. We know there are secure ways of using these personal devices and therefore we are applying this change to make sure that happens. The safety and security of our information and data is paramount and we know as ECC employees you will all appreciate this.
The change will impact different devices in different ways.
If you use a non-ECC Windows laptop or computer
To continue to use the Office 365 desktop apps (i.e. Outlook, Word), you must register your device for Windows Information Protection (WIP) if you have not already done so. This will mean that ECC can remotely wipe any ECC data should we need to; your device will be compliant, and you can continue use the desktop apps. If your device is not already registered, you will be prompted with instructions on how to do so on your device. You can also view a step by step guide on the IT Training Resource Portal.
If you don’t want to register your device, you will still be able to work on your device using the web apps via http://office.com in a web browser, in which case no ECC data will be stored on your device.
If you do not register your non ECC Windows laptop or computer and you have used Outlook to access your mailbox, you will need to manually delete your ECC mailbox from this device to remove ECC data. To find out how to remove your ECC mailbox please see the
If you use a Non-ECC Mac
Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a way to allow Office 365 desktop apps to be used securely on a Mac. This means you will only be able to work on the web apps via http://office.com using a web browser on a Mac.
If you have used Outlook on a Mac to access your ECC mailbox you will need to manually delete your ECC mailbox from this device to remove ECC data. Please see the guide on how to remove your ECC Mailbox.
After the change has been implemented your Mac may tell you that you can register your device so that ECC can manage your device. Please do not register your device at this time as this will make ECC the Administrator of your personal Mac. ECC would then have full control over your device and you would not. ECC would be able to erase your device if it were lost or stolen, or if you left ECC. You would also be prevented from accessing the App Store, installing or removing apps and from accessing certain websites.
If you use a non-ECC Apple iPad, iPhone or an Android phone or tablet
These are already set up in a secure way and you do not need to do anything.
If you use a non-ECC device that is not listed above, such as a Chromebook or Linux computer
Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to allow these devices to continue to access ECC data. These devices will be blocked from accessing your ECC account. You won’t be able to access your ECC account in the web browser or any installed Office 365 applications. You should remove any ECC data from the device.
ECC will be releasing date very soon – watch this space!
All guides and Q& A are on the VLE: https://vle.essexacl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11§ion=2