Privacy at Microsoft

In a global economy that relies on the massive flow and exchange of information, protecting privacy is critical. Microsoft believes you have the right to control your personal information, to be selective about the communication you receive, and to trust the technologies, services, and solutions you use on a regular basis. To this end, we commit significant resources towards embedding privacy in our culture and products to help you protect and manage your information confidently and safely.

People, policies and processes

Microsoft was one of the first companies to appoint a chief privacy officer nearly a decade ago. Today we employ over 40 employees who focus on privacy full-time, and another 400 throughout the company who focus on it as part of their jobs.

We have a strong set of internal policies and standards that guide how we do business and how we design our products and services in a way that respects and protects user privacy.

We have made significant investments in privacy training and in building our privacy standards into our product development and other business processes.

Guiding principles

The principles of transparency, control, and security have guided our Microsoft approach to privacy.

Transparency is about helping you easily discover and understand how your information is collected and used. This is why the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement appears at the bottom of every Microsoft-owned Web page.
Control means we provide options about how your information is made available to others and used by others.
Security is the notion of protecting your information from harm caused by unauthorized use or disclosure.

Technology innovation and investment

Microsoft develops technologies and guidance to enable individuals and organizations to better protect their privacy and reduce the risk of sensitive data loss.

For consumers, we provide privacy-enhancing technologies in our products and services that help protect their personal information. See Products for examples.

To help organizations more effectively manage or "govern" the data in their possession, we provide guidance, frameworks, and technologies designed to help protect and manage personal information, mitigate risk, achieve compliance, and promote trust and accountability. See Data Governance for more information.