Microsoft updates terms on data privacy

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) – the European Union’s data watchdog had opened an investigation in April to assess whether Microsoft’s contracts with the European Commission and other EU institutions met data protection rules. In October, it raised concerns about compliance.

The European Data Protection Supervisor is an independent supervisory authority whose primary objective is to ensure that European institutions and bodies respect the right to privacy and data protection when they process personal data and develop new policies.

According to Microsoft, it was updating the privacy provisions of its commercial cloud contracts after European regulators found its deals with European Union (EU) institutions failed to protect data in line with EU law.

Microsoft issued a statement on its website addressing the issue and stated that the company will increase its data protection responsibilities for a subset of processing which the company engages in while providing enterprise services.

The company which is the only major cloud provider to offer such terms in the European Economic Area and beyond, expects to offer the new provisions to public sector and enterprise customers in early 2020.