Information
This policy setting controls users' access to the online features of Office.
Policy setting option for user access to online content and services:
Do not allow Office to connect to the Internet - Office applications do not connect to the Internet to access online services, or to download the latest online content from Office.com. Connected features of Office 2016 are disabled.
NOTE: This does not apply to Office 365 Apps for Enterprise but does apply to Office 2016 and 2019. Office 365 has a separate set of group policies for these controls.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: Do not allow Office to connect to the Internet
In a high security environment data should never be sent to 3rd parties as there could be an accidental spillage of sensitive information. Online Content, online tips and other internet connected services baked into applications (whether innocent from the software vendor's perspective or not) can allow for a covert channel to exist where information can travel through.
Solution
To establish the recommended state via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to Enabled: Do not allow Office to connect to the Internet :
Microsoft Office 2016\Tools | Options | General | Service Options...\Online Content\Online Content Options
Impact:
Configuring this setting to 'Do not allow Office to connect to the internet' will cause disruptions for users who are accustomed to receiving content from Microsoft Office.com within Office applications. These users will still have to access Microsoft Office.com using their Web browsers to obtain this content, if permitted.