6/11/2024 Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy

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Microsoft Privacy Statement

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Your privacy is important to us. This privacy statement

explains the personal data Microsoft processes, how
Microsoft processes it, and for what purposes.

Microsoft offers a wide range of products, including server

products used to help operate enterprises worldwide,
devices you use in your home, software that students use
at school, and services developers use to create and host
what’s next. References to Microsoft products in this

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statement include Microsoft services, websites, apps,

software, servers, and devices.

Please read the product-specific details in this privacy

statement, which provide additional relevant information.
This statement applies to the interactions Microsoft has
with you and the Microsoft products listed below, as well
as other Microsoft products that display this statement.

Young people may prefer starting with the Privacy for

young people page. That page highlights information that
may be helpful for young people.

For individuals in the United States, please refer to our U.S.

State Data Privacy Notice and the Washington State
Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy for additional
information about the processing of your personal data, and
your rights under applicable U.S. State data privacy laws.

Personal data we collect

How we use personal data
Reasons we share personal data
How to access and control your personal data
Cookies and similar technologies
Products provided by your organization—notice to end
users
Microsoft account
Collection of data from children
Other important privacy information
Product-specific details:
Enterprise and developer products
Productivity and communications products

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Search, Microsoft Edge, and artificial intelligence

Windows
Entertainment and related services
Cookies

Most Microsoft sites use cookies, small text files placed on

your device which web servers utilize in the domain that
placed the cookie can retrieve later. We use cookies to
store your preferences and settings, help with sign-in,
provide personalized ads, and analyze site operations. For
more information, see the Cookies and similar technologies
section of this privacy statement.

EU-U.S., UK Extension, and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy

Frameworks

Microsoft complies with the EU-U.S., UK Extension to the

EU-U.S., and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks. To learn
more, see the Where we store and process personal data
section, and visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Data
Privacy Framework website.

Contact us

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or question for

the Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer or EU Data Protection
Officer, please contact us by using our web form. For more
information about contacting Microsoft, including Microsoft
Ireland Operations Limited, see the How to contact us
section of this privacy statement.

Personal data we collect

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Microsoft collects data from you, through our interactions

with you and through our products. You provide some of
this data directly, and we get some of it by collecting data
about your interactions, use, and experiences with our
products. The data we collect depends on the context of
your interactions with Microsoft and the choices you make,
including your privacy settings and the products and
features you use. We also obtain data about you from third
parties.

If you represent an organization, such as a business or

school, that utilizes Enterprise and Developer Products
from Microsoft, please see the Enterprise and developer
products section of this privacy statement to learn how we
process your data. If you are an end user of a Microsoft
product or a Microsoft account provided by your
organization, please see the Products provided by your
organization and the Microsoft account sections for more
information.

You have choices when it comes to the technology you use

and the data you share. When we ask you to provide
personal data, you can decline. Many of our products
require some personal data to provide you with a service. If
you choose not to provide data -required to provide you
with a product or feature, you cannot use that product or
feature. Likewise, where we need to collect personal data
by law or to enter into or carry out a contract with you, and
you do not provide the data, we will not be able to enter
into the contract; or if this relates to an existing product
you are using, we may have to suspend or cancel it. We will
notify you if this is the case at the time. Where providing
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the data is optional, and you choose not to share personal

data, features like personalization that use such data will
not work for you.

Learn more
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How we use personal data

Microsoft uses the data we collect to provide you with rich,

interactive experiences. In particular, we use data to:

Provide our products, which includes updating,

securing, and troubleshooting, as well as providing
support. It also includes sharing data, when it is
required to provide the service or carry out the
transactions you request.
Improve and develop our products.
Personalize our products and make recommendations.
Advertise and market to you, which includes sending
promotional communications, targeting advertising, and
presenting you with relevant offers.

We also use the data to operate our business, which

includes analyzing our performance, meeting our legal
obligations, developing our workforce, and doing research.

In carrying out these purposes, we combine data we collect

from different contexts (for example, from your use of two
Microsoft products) or obtain from third parties to give you
a more seamless, consistent, and personalized experience,
to make informed business decisions, and for other
legitimate purposes.
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Our processing of personal data for these purposes

includes both automated and manual (human) methods of
processing. Our automated methods often are related to
and supported by our manual methods. For example, to
build, train, and improve the accuracy of our automated
methods of processing (including artificial intelligence or
AI), we manually review some of the predictions and
inferences produced by the automated methods against the
underlying data from which the predictions and inferences
were made. For instance, with your permission and for the
purpose of improving our speech recognition technologies,
we manually review short snippets of voice data that we
have taken steps to de-identify. This manual review may be
conducted by Microsoft employees or vendors who are
working on Microsoft’s behalf.

Learn more
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Reasons we share personal data

We share your personal data with your consent or to

complete any transaction or provide any product you have
requested or authorized. We also share data with Microsoft-
controlled affiliates and subsidiaries; with vendors working
on our behalf; when required by law or to respond to legal
process; to protect our customers; to protect lives; to
maintain the security of our products; and to protect the
rights and property of Microsoft and its customers.

Please note that, as defined under certain U.S. state data

privacy laws, “sharing” also relates to providing personal
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data to third parties for personalized advertising purposes.

Please see the U.S. State Data Privacy section below and
our U.S. State Data Privacy Laws Notice for more
information.

Learn more
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How to access and control your personal data

You can also make choices about the collection and use of
your data by Microsoft. You can control your personal data
that Microsoft has obtained, and exercise your data
protection rights, by contacting Microsoft or using various
tools we provide. In some cases, your ability to access or
control your personal data will be limited, as required or
permitted by applicable law. How you can access or control
your personal data will also depend on which products you
use. For example, you can:

Control the use of your data for personalized advertising

from Microsoft by visiting our opt-out page.
Choose whether you wish to receive promotional emails,
SMS messages, telephone calls, and postal mail from
Microsoft.
Access and clear some of your data through the
Microsoft privacy dashboard.

Not all personal data processed by Microsoft can be

accessed or controlled via the tools above. If you want to
access or control personal data processed by Microsoft
that is not available via the tools above or directly through
the Microsoft products you use, you can always contact
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Microsoft at the address in the How to contact us section

or by using our web form.

We provide aggregate metrics about user requests to

exercise their data protection rights via the Microsoft
Privacy Report.

Learn more
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Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device to store

data that can be recalled by a web server in the domain
that placed the cookie. We use cookies and similar
technologies for storing and honoring your preferences and
settings, enabling you to sign in, providing interest-based
advertising, combating fraud, analyzing how our products
perform, and fulfilling other legitimate purposes. Microsoft
apps use additional identifiers, such as the advertising ID in
Windows described in the Advertising ID section of this
privacy statement, for similar purposes.

We also use “web beacons” to help deliver cookies and

gather usage and performance data. Our websites may
include web beacons, cookies, or similar technologies from
Microsoft affiliates and partners as well as third parties,
such as service providers acting on our behalf.

Third party cookies may include: Social Media cookies

designed to show you ads and content based on your social
media profiles and activities on our websites; Analytics
cookies to better understand how you and others use our
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websites so that we can make them better, and so the third

parties can improve their own products and services;
Advertising cookies to show you ads that are relevant to
you; and Required cookies used to perform essential
website functions. Where required, we obtain your consent
prior to placing or using optional cookies that are not (i)
strictly necessary to provide the website; or (ii) for the
purpose of facilitating a communication.

Please see the Learn more section below for information

about our use of third party cookies, web beacons and
analytics services, and other similar technologies on our
websites and services. For a list of the third parties that set
cookies on our websites, including service providers acting
on our behalf, please visit our third party cookie inventory.
On some of our websites, a list of third parties is available
directly on the site. The third parties on these sites may not
be included in the list on our third party cookie inventory.

You have a variety of tools to control the data collected by

cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies. For
example, you can use controls in your internet browser to
limit how the websites you visit are able to use cookies and
to withdraw your consent by clearing or blocking cookies.

Learn more
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Products provided by your organization—notice to end
users

If you use a Microsoft product with an account provided by

an organization you are affiliated with, such as your work or
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school account, that organization can:

Control and administer your Microsoft product and

product account, including controlling privacy-related
settings of the product or product account.
Access and process your data, including the interaction
data, diagnostic data, and the contents of your
communications and files associated with your
Microsoft product and product accounts.

If you lose access to your work or school account (in event

of change of employment, for example), you may lose
access to products and the content associated with those
products, including those you acquired on your own behalf,
if you used your work or school account to sign in to such
products.

Many Microsoft products are intended for use by

organizations, such as schools and businesses. Please see
the Enterprise and developer products section of this
privacy statement. If your organization provides you with
access to Microsoft products, your use of the Microsoft
products is subject to your organization's policies, if any.
You should direct your privacy inquiries, including any
requests to exercise your data protection rights, to your
organization’s administrator. When you use social features
in Microsoft products, other users in your network may see
some of your activity. To learn more about the social
features and other functionality, please review
documentation or help content specific to the Microsoft
product. Microsoft is not responsible for the privacy or

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security practices of our customers, which may differ from

those set forth in this privacy statement.

When you use a Microsoft product provided by your

organization, Microsoft’s processing of your personal data
in connection with that product is governed by a contract
between Microsoft and your organization. Microsoft
processes your personal data to provide the product to your
organization and you, and in some cases for Microsoft’s
business operations related to providing the product as
described in the Enterprise and developer products section.
As mentioned above, if you have questions about
Microsoft’s processing of your personal data in connection
with providing products to your organization, please
contact your organization. If you have questions about
Microsoft’s business operations in connection with
providing products to your organization as provided in the
Product Terms, please contact Microsoft as described in
the How to contact us section. For more information on our
business operations, please see the Enterprise and
developer products section.

For Microsoft products provided by your K-12 school,

including Microsoft 365 Education, Microsoft will:

not collect or use student personal data beyond that

needed for authorized educational or school purposes;
not sell or rent student personal data;
not use or share student personal data for advertising or
similar commercial purposes, such as behavioral
targeting of advertisements to students;

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not build a personal profile of a student, other than for

supporting authorized educational or school purposes or
as authorized by the parent, guardian, or student of
appropriate age; and
require that our vendors with whom student personal
data is shared to deliver the educational service, if any,
are obligated to implement these same commitments
for student personal data.

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Microsoft account

With a Microsoft account, you can sign in to Microsoft

products, as well as those of select Microsoft partners.
Personal data associated with your Microsoft account
includes credentials, name and contact data, payment
data, device and usage data, your contacts, information
about your activities, and your interests and favorites.
Signing in to your Microsoft account enables
personalization and consistent experiences across
products and devices, permits you to use cloud data
storage, allows you to make payments using payment
instruments stored in your Microsoft account, and enables
other features.

There are three types of Microsoft account:

When you create your own Microsoft account tied to

your personal email address, we refer to that account as
a personal Microsoft account.
When you or your organization (such as an employer or
your school) create your Microsoft account tied to your
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email address provided by that organization, we refer to

that account as a work or school account.
When you or your service provider (such as a cable or
internet service provider) create your Microsoft account
tied to your email address with your service provider’s
domain, we refer to that account as a third-party
account.

If you sign into a service offered by a third party with your

Microsoft account, you will share with that third party the
account data required by that service.

Learn more
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Collection of data from children

For users under the age of 13 or as specified by law in their

jurisdiction, certain Microsoft products and services will
either block users under that age or will ask them to obtain
consent or authorization from a parent or guardian before
they can use it, including when creating an account to
access Microsoft services. We will not knowingly ask
children under that age to provide more data than is
required to provide for the product.

Once parental consent or authorization is granted, the

child's account is treated much like any other account.
Learn more about personal and school accounts in the
Microsoft account section of the Privacy Statement and
Microsoft Family Safety in the product-specific section. The
child can access communication services, like Outlook and
Skype, and can freely communicate and share data with
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other users of all ages. Parents or guardians can change or

revoke the consent choices previously made. Learn more
about parental consent and Microsoft child accounts. As
the organizer of a Microsoft family group, the parent or
guardian can manage a child’s information and settings on
their Family Safety page and view and delete a child’s data
on their privacy dashboard. Select Learn more below for
more information about how to access and delete child
data and information about children and Xbox profiles.

Learn more
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Other important privacy information

Below you will find additional privacy information, such as

how we secure your data, where we process your data, and
how long we retain your data. You can find more
information on Microsoft and our commitment to protecting
your privacy at Microsoft Privacy.

Learn more
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Enterprise and developer products

Enterprise and Developer Products are Microsoft products

and related software offered to and designed primarily for
use by organizations and developers. They include:

Cloud services, referred to as Online Services in the

Product Terms, such as Microsoft 365 and Office 365,
Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics365, and Microsoft
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Intune for which an organization (our customer)

contracts with Microsoft for the services (“Enterprise
Online Services”).
Other enterprise and developer tools and cloud-based
services, such as Azure PlayFab Services (to learn more
see Azure PlayFab Terms of Service).
Server, developer, and hybrid cloud platform products,
such as Windows Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio,
System Center, Azure Stack and open source software
like Bot Framework solutions (“Enterprise and
Developer Software”).
Appliances and hardware used for storage
infrastructure, such as StorSimple (“Enterprise
Appliances”).
Professional services referred to in the Product Terms
that are available with Enterprise Online Services, such
as onboarding services, data migration services, data
science services, or services to supplement existing
features in the Enterprise Online Services.

In the event of a conflict between this Microsoft privacy

statement and the terms of any agreement(s) between a
customer and Microsoft for Enterprise and Developer
Products, the terms of those agreement(s) will control.

You can also learn more about our Enterprise and

Developer Products’ features and settings, including
choices that impact your privacy or your end users’ privacy,
in product documentation.

If any of the terms below are not defined in this Privacy

Statement or the Product Terms, they have the definitions
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below.

General. When a customer tries, purchases, uses, or

subscribes to Enterprise and Developer Products, or
obtains support for or professional services with such
products, Microsoft receives data from you and collects
and generates data to provide the service (including
improving, securing, and updating the service), conduct our
business operations, and communicate with the customer.
For example:

When a customer engages with a Microsoft sales

representative, we collect the customer’s name and
contact data, along with information about the
customer’s organization, to support that engagement.
When a customer interacts with a Microsoft support
professional, we collect device and usage data or error
reports to diagnose and resolve problems.
When a customer pays for products, we collect contact
and payment data to process the payment.
When Microsoft sends communications to a customer,
we use data to personalize the content of the
communication.
When a customer engages with Microsoft for
professional services, we collect the name and contact
data of the customer’s designated point of contact and
use information provided by the customer to perform the
services that the customer has requested.

The Enterprise and Developer Products enable you to

purchase, subscribe to, or use other products and online
services from Microsoft or third parties with different
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privacy practices, and those other products and online

services are governed by their respective privacy
statements and policies.

Learn more
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Productivity and communications products

Productivity and communications products are

applications, software, and services you can use to create,
store, and share documents, as well as communicate with
others.

Learn more
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Search, Microsoft Edge, and artificial intelligence

Search and artificial intelligence products connect you with

information and intelligently sense, process, and act on
information—learning and adapting over time.

Learn more
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Windows

Windows is a personalized computing environment that

enables you to seamlessly roam and access services,
preferences, and content across your computing devices
from phones to tablets to the Surface Hub. Rather than
residing as a static software program on your device, key
components of Windows are cloud-based, and both cloud
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and local elements of Windows are updated regularly,

providing you with the latest improvements and features. In
order to provide this computing experience, we collect data
about you, your device, and the way you use Windows. And
because Windows is personal to you, we give you choices
about the personal data we collect and how we use it. Note
that if your Windows device is managed by your
organization (such as your employer or school), your
organization may use centralized management tools
provided by Microsoft or others to access and process your
data and to control device settings (including privacy
settings), device policies, software updates, data collection
by us or the organization, or other aspects of your device.
Additionally, your organization may use management tools
provided by Microsoft or others to access and process your
data from that device, including your interaction data,
diagnostic data, and the contents of your communications
and files.

The Windows Settings, formerly known as PC Settings, is

an essential component of Microsoft Windows. It provides a
convenient interface for adjusting user preferences,
configuring the operating system, and managing connected
devices so that you can manage user accounts, adjust
network settings, and personalize various aspects of
Windows. Windows provides a mechanism for apps to
access various device capabilities such as the device’s
camera, microphone, location, calendar, contacts, call
history, messages and more, while controlling access to
your personal data. Each capability has its own privacy
settings page in Windows settings, so you can control

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which apps can use each capability. Here are some key
features of Settings:

1. Customization: You can personalize various aspects of

Windows, including the look and feel, language settings,
and privacy options. Windows settings uses your
microphone when controlling the volume, camera when
using integrated camera and location to change
brightness at night time to help you customize your
Windows.
2. Peripheral Management: Install and manage peripherals
such as printers, monitors, and external drives.
3. Network Configuration: Adjust networking settings,
including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, cellular and VPN connections
and will use physical MAC address, IMEI and mobile
number if device supports cellular.
4. Account Management: Add or remove user accounts,
change account settings, and manage sign-in options.
5. System-Level Options: Configure display settings,
notifications, power options, manage list of installed
apps and more.
6. Privacy & security management: configure your privacy
preferences such as location, collection of diagnostic
data etc. Fine-tune which individual apps and services
can access device capabilities by turning them on or off.

For more information about data collection in Windows, see

Data collection summary for Windows. This statement
discusses Windows 10 and Windows 11 and references to
Windows in this section relate to those product versions.
Earlier versions of Windows (including Windows Vista,

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Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1) are subject to

their own privacy statements.

Learn more
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Entertainment and related services

Entertainment and Related Services power rich

experiences and enable you to access a variety of content,
applications and games.

Learn more
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Cookies

Most Microsoft sites use cookies, small text files placed on

your device which web servers utilize in the domain that
placed the cookie can retrieve later. We use cookies to
store your preferences and settings, help with sign-in,
provide personalized ads, and analyze site operations. For
more information, see the Cookies and similar technologies
section of this privacy statement.

EU-U.S., UK Extension, and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy

Frameworks

Microsoft complies with the EU-U.S., UK Extension to the

EU-U.S., and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks. To learn
more, see the Where we store and process personal data
section, and visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Data
Privacy Framework website.

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Contact us

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or question for

the Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer or EU Data Protection
Officer, please contact us by using our web form. For more
information about contacting Microsoft, including Microsoft
Ireland Operations Limited, see the How to contact us
section of this privacy statement.

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