Software King of the World, Microsoft has revealed plans to store and process all personal data from its European users in the EU.
Julie Brill, corporate VP & chief privacy officer at Microsoft, confirmed the decision, saying that the firm is changing the ‘EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud.’
The plan, which started in 2023, first covered some of Microsoft’s cloud services, including Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform and Dynamics 365.
This week the firm expanded the promise to include all personal data, even automated system logs, in the Microsoft EU Data Boundary.
EU officials and American tech giants have been in long talks over how to handle European data. There have been worries about how EU citizens’ data would be dealt with in the US, which has weaker privacy laws than the EU.
The EU-US data deal, called the ‘Data Privacy Framework,’ was agreed in July 2023, giving a new legal way for data transfers.
But the past of previous deals, like Privacy Shield and Safe Harbour, facing legal battles made cloud giants keep boosting data localisation measures.
Microsoft’s growth of the EU Data Boundary has more transparency measures and documents to help customers understand data flows better.
The firm’s EU Data Boundary Trust Centre is a portal for customers to get these resources.
A new part in the latest phase is the use of virtual desktop infrastructure in the EU Data Boundary. This allows for remote access to system logs without needing physical data transfers or storage outside the EU.
While Microsoft’s data localisation efforts are complete, the design still lets some data leave the EU. The planned third phase, set for 31 December 2024, will keep the gradual localisation process for customer data flows.
To follow the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which starts on 6 March, Google has announced a new policy giving EU users more control over their data-sharing choices.
Under the new policy, EU users can now choose to opt out of data sharing across all, some, or none of a number of Google’s services.
The list includes big offerings such as YouTube, Google Play, Chrome, Search, ad services, Google Shopping and Google Maps.
While users can change their data-sharing choices, the policy admits some cases where Google will keep sharing data. Finishing a purchase on Google Shopping with Google Pay, following legal needs, stopping fraud, or protecting against abuse are some of the exceptions.
