At startup, a Microsoft window appeared. There was a question "Personalize offers and discounts for Microsoft products"?

Hi ChrisThrasher:

Thanks for posting about this. Glad to know someone else is seeing this.

I got the same pop-up today when I opened MS Outlook 2019 (part of my MS Office Home and Business 2019 suite) today on 18-Mar-2022 and I wasn't able to use MS Outlook or close the pop-up until I clicked "Next" and selected whether I wanted to "Personalize offers and discounts for Microsoft products". I clicked the blue "Don't Personalize" button and then confirmed my MS Office privacy setting at File | Office Account | Account Privacy | Manage Settings | Personalize Offers and Discounts for Microsoft Products | Turn On Personalized Offers (i.e., from any MS Office program like MS Outlook, MS Excel, etc.) was DISABLED.

I have no idea if this is a new setting that was recently added to my MS Office 2019 account settings when it was updated to Version 2022 Build 14391.20132 Click-to-Run on 11-Mar 2022 (see the Current Channel release notes <here> for Click-to-Run MS Office products ) or whether "Turn on personalized offers" is normally enabled by default, but Microsoft seems to be forcing MS Office users to choose whether they want this opt out of this optional data collection before users are allowed to use their MS Office products again.

64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1586 * Firefox v98.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2202.4-1.1.19000.8 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.6.180-1.0.1634 * MS Office Home and Business 2019 v2022 (Build 14391.20132 Click-to-Run)
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

I saw this myself following a recent update. It appears to be part of the license agreement.

Are you saying that you don't see the options to Personalize or Don't Personalize?

Got the same pop-up and selected 'Don't personalize' : my Office 365 subscription based is updated automatically and I do not see any other real 'pros' by enabling it.

That aside, Microsoft is already collecting quite a lot of data.
See Outlook > File > Office Account > click [Manage Settings] below Account Privacy

Required diagnostic data (by design, no option to disable)

We gather diagnostic data required to keep Office secure, up-to-date, and performing

as expected on the device it's installed on. For example, what operating system you're

using and if Office updates installed successfully.

Optional diagnostic data [Enabled]

We'd like additional diagnostic and usage data sent to us. It's how we continue to

improve. None of this data includes your name, file contents, or information about

apps unrelated to Office.

Connected experiences [Enabled]

Experiences that analyze your content

Some connected experiences in Office will use your content to help you create,

communicate, and collaborate more effectively. For example, experiences that find

information available online about a word or phrase used in a document.

Experiences that download online content [Enabled]

Office can provide you with searchable, downloadable online content like templates,

images, and videos. For example, experiences that help you search for online pictures

to add to your slides.

All connected experiences [Enabled]

Connected experiences include things like analyzing content, downloading online

content, and online file storage. Outlook email services and essential services, such as

downloading updates, will still work even when this setting is not turned on. This

setting also allows you to apply your account privacy settings across devices.

Chris, it sound like some sort of scam. See if you can remove it by right clicking on the taskbar>Open Task Manager>Click on anything that looks like it is referring to what is on your screen>Click on>End task.