Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?
According to a Slate report, Microsoft made a quiet change to a popular software grant, resulting in over 170,000 small nonprofits losing all their data. The change, which was not widely publicized, has had a devastating impact on these organizations, which rely on the software for their daily operations. The article raises the question of whether Microsoft is responsible for the data loss, given that the change was made without adequate warning or support for the affected nonprofits. The incident underscores the vulnerability of small organizations that depend on corporate software grants, as they may not have the resources to back up their data or respond to sudden changes in service terms. The full extent of the damage and any potential recovery efforts are not detailed in the source, but the scale of the data loss—affecting over 170,000 organizations—highlights the significant consequences of such corporate decisions.
Developers relying on corporate software grants face data loss risks from quiet policy changes.