Recently, Microsoft announced its compliance with the GDPR regulations that will come into effect on May 25 and will apply to all its customers worldwide.
In other words, the privacy controls that European users have – such as the right to download and delete their data – will be available to all Microsoft customers, regardless of where they live.
The GDPR, which stands for Protection Regulation , will bring new rules that will allow users in Europe to have better control over their personal data and know exactly how it is being used. Like all other companies, Microsoft has prepared a series of updates to comply with these regulations, as well as changes to its user privacy policy.
“We will extend the rights at the heart of the GDPR to all of our consumers around the world. These include the right to know what data we collect about them, to correct that data, to delete it, and even to port it somewhere else. The privacy dashboard gives users the tools they need to control their data,” Microsoft explains.
GDPR comes into force on May 25th
Google has long been one of the companies fighting to protect user privacy and recently stood up to the US government when it demanded access to customer data stored overseas.
Access was ultimately not granted, after Microsoft resisted the search warrant, emphasizing that requests for access to data should not target servers located beyond the borders of any government.
“We have supported national privacy legislation in the United States since 2005. We are excited that other technology companies are starting to support the need to address this issue. As the debate over privacy and data protection continues in the U.S., we are committed to taking concrete steps to strengthen people’s privacy,” Microsoft notes.
You can read Microsoft's new privacy statement here.
