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Changing "Bing in the Classroom" and/or "SafeSearch" settings

Anonymous
2023-08-10T07:01:53+00:00

I work ICT at a school, and we've had some staff express an interest in testing out the Bing Chat AI - which says that we need to disable "Strict SafeSearch" in order to use.

Going to the SafeSearch options within Bing doesn't show any options, but instead a message that "The Bing in the Classroom program requires a strict Bing SafeSearch setting to filter out results that might return adult content."

My research suggests that the "Bing In The Classroom" is tied to our outgoing IP address. (this is consistent with what I've seen in testing)

Is there a way to get our staff computers to be able to change their SafeSearch options, while still keeping it Strict for student devices? Or is there a way to enable Bing Chat AI while Strict SafeSearch is enabled?

Does the "Bing in the Classroom" program still exist? I've tried following various links to information, which all seem to be 404. The little information I've found about it seem to be dated back to 2015. Has this been rolled into our 365 tenancy? I've spoken to 3 generations of previous ICT technicians from our school, and none recall signing up for this program.

Bing | Safety and privacy | Adult content and SafeSearch

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-08-22T23:55:12+00:00

    I'm still waiting to hear back on the "enable Bing Chat AI while strict SafeSearch is enabled" bit, but I believe I found the setting that used to be in "Services & Add-ins"

    If you go into the M365 admin center (You may need to click "Show All..." to reveal all navigation options) - then in "Settings" go to "Search and Intelligence", then go to the "Configurations" tab, and there should be a card for "Microsoft Search in Bing for Work and School". The wording around the setting makes it sound like this may only appear if you have both an "education" and an "enterprise" service plan. Choose "School" and you'll be locked to Strict safesearch, or "Work" and you'll be locked to Moderate safesearch.

    (Accurate as at Aug 2023)

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-23T15:27:54+00:00

    Came across this thread as had a similar issue trying to get Bing Chat to work. The strict setting I enabled sometime last year, as I recall from the Search and Intelligence blade as discussed above BUT the option to amend the search from Strict to Moderate is no longer there.

    As Daniel has pointed out the the setting only appears when education is present as well. We are Enterprise and do not see any option and can not found anywhere in Admin to amend this setting now. When clicking in Edge it advises due to our region (UK) strict is enforced, not managed by Org Admin or similar.

    So I think this setting has dropped out but for those like us who enabled strict search now means we cannot use Bing Chat. If someone could let us know where the setting has moved to or another way to overcome the issue, or allow Bing Chat to work with Strict Search. Have a feeling a support case is coming along....

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-22T18:13:55+00:00

    Can you provide some specifics. How do we, "enable Bing Chat AI while strict SafeSearch is enabled?"

    "Services & Add-ins section" is no longer there. I do not see any other option to set safe search in admin.microsoft.com.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-11T00:18:48+00:00

    We don't have a "Services & Add-ins" within our 365 admin center - but from screenshots I'm seeing online, I'm assuming that's now "Settings" and "Integrated Apps" - We don't have anything Bing, Search, or Classroom related currently being pushed/configured. If I'm looking in the wrong place please let me know.

    If I'm looking in the right place, are there any other places you're aware of that "Bing in the Classroom" might be configured? Even if we administer SafeSearch through other methods (GPO - which is configured, and what I had previously thought we were using to force SafeSearch) we will still need to get BitC disabled before we're able to progress any further.

    Or am I better off pursuing the "You can also enable Bing Chat AI while strict SafeSearch is enabled"? That's what I was originally trying to do, with most search results (and Bing Chat AI itself) telling me that I need to change SafeSearch to "Moderate" or "Off" - which is what then lead to the whole BitC rabbit-hole.

    I had seen that BitC was "now available to all schools in the US" - I have to assume it's been rolled out to other countries, given that we're a school in Australia. Not sure if the region we're in is relevant information, but better to give it and not need it.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-10T10:43:14+00:00

    Hi Daniel,

    Yes, there are ways to change the SafeSearch options for staff computers while keeping it strict for student devices. For example, if you manage a school, workplace, or home network, you can force SafeSearch filtering on for all browsers and devices using your network. You can also enable Bing Chat AI while strict SafeSearch is enabled.
    The “Bing in the Classroom” program still exists and is intended to support Microsoft’s broader commitment to K-12 education by offering qualifying schools Microsoft’s Bing search services with enhancements.

    However, it seems that some of the links to information about the program may be outdated or no longer available. The program was launched in 2014 and was available to all schools in the US.

    As for whether the program has been rolled into your 365 tenancy, I couldn’t find any specific information about that. However, you can manage Microsoft Search by Bing in Office 365 through the Services & Add-ins section of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center5.

    I hope this information helps! Is there anything else you would like to know?

    Kind regards,
    Jayzar

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