The new Outlook gives Microsoft access to Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and IMAP accounts

Introduced in January 16, 1997, Microsoft Outlook became popular mostly for its use in business environments. However, its personal information management capabilities and its inclusion as a part of the Windows operating system make it a tempting choice for home users as well. The new Outlook for Windows app will come as a default for Windows 11 from 2024 and is also available for Windows 10 users right now. While the ability to work with multiple accounts is always welcome in an email client, Outlook for Windows also comes with some security-related worries.

For Windows 10 users, the Outlook for Windows version currently available for download via Microsoft Store is labeled 20231027003.15. The list of supported third-party email providers includes Yahoo, Gmail, iCloud, as well as custom IMAP accounts. When adding a new account, the user is presented with a list of actions that the app will be allowed to perform, but no customization options. The only choices are to accept everything or cancel.

When a Gmail account is added, the user will notice that Microsoft apps & services (this is either poorly written, or the user is also granting full access to other Microsoft apps by adding Gmail access to Outlook for Windows) will be allowed to do the following:

• Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all emails from Gmail
• See, edit, create, and delete all Google Drive files 
• View, edit, download, and permanentely delete contacts
• See, edit, share, and delete all calendars accessible via Google Calendar
• See and download the exact date of birth

The privacy statement enclosed in Outlook for Windows makes it clear that the user remains the owner of the data transferred, but German computer magazine CT discovered that the app can transfer the target server, username, and password to Microsoft's servers. Although the data is encrypted while in transit, Microsoft gets access to the plain text strings. However, this only happens with IMAP accounts, since Gmail's use of OAuth2 keeps the user's login credentials away from the tech giant headquartered in Redmond.

Many of those who rated poorly this app complain about its overengineering and lack of customization options, it might be a good idea for Microsoft to keep the old Mail and Calendar application around at least by the end of 2024 or until Outlook for Windows gets a higher rating. For now, the old app leads by 4.3 to 3.5, after 639K reviews and less than 3K, respectively.