I’m just a man with a guillotine
To put it succinctly they aren’t. They’re interested in aggregate data so that a data engineer can use it to understand consumer trends and better predict marketing reach.
It’s not specifically about you, it’s more of a what they can claim to know about their consumers.
I really enjoy PopOs but Microsoft office is one of the things that is always been a bit difficult on Linux there are alternatives like only office and Libre office but if those won’t do you might need Windows.
Perhaps after the web apps get their Rust rewrite they’ll be a suitable replacement.
When setting up the authentication when it asks you to set up Microsoft authenticator there should be a drop-down at the bottom of the page that says use another option that will allow you to use a phone call or text message as your chosen method of authentication.