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The statement authorizes Microsoft to share personal data collected from users with named third-party advertising partners including Facebook, Yahoo, Xandr, Trade Desk, Taboola, Outbrain, and Media.net for personalized advertising purposes. Users can opt out of personalized advertising and third-party data sharing through the Microsoft personalized ads settings page.
This analysis describes what Microsoft Azure's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision establishes that user data collected across Microsoft's product ecosystem is shared with multiple named external advertising entities, and the breadth of this sharing may require evaluation under CCPA's definitions of data sale and sharing, as well as GDPR's requirements for lawful basis for third-party data disclosure for advertising purposes.
Microsoft now discloses that it may contact you by phone for marketing using automated dialers and AI-generated voices if you have consented to marketing communications, which represents a new disclosure of contact method and technology type. The company has also reorganized its data retention policy to state it retains data for broader business purposes including improving products and protecting systems, while removing previous specific examples and retention criteria, making it less clear exactly how long specific types of your data will be kept. You should review your consent settings for marketing communications and verify what contact methods you have authorized, particularly if you have concerns about automated or AI-generated calls.
View change record →Microsoft's privacy policy now provides a less detailed explanation of how long your data is retained. Previously, the policy included specific examples, such as how long deleted emails remain in your system before final deletion, and listed criteria for deciding retention periods. Now those details are consolidated into a more general statement pointing readers to separate product documentation. This means you'll need to consult multiple documents to understand retention timelines for specific services, which reduces transparency at the point of reading the main privacy policy.
View change record →Microsoft's updated retention policy provides greater specificity about how long your data persists and under what conditions it is deleted. The policy now explicitly states that deleted items from OneDrive and Outlook.com may remain in Microsoft's systems for up to 30 days before permanent removal, even after you empty the Deleted Items folder. Additionally, the updated terms clarify that retention periods depend on whether you have an expectation that Microsoft will keep the data until you actively remove it, and whether automated controls exist to let you access and delete data yourself. You can review Microsoft's privacy dashboard to exercise available deletion controls and understand which services retain your data under these criteria.
View change record →The agreement authorizes sharing of personal data including browsing activity, interests, search queries, and device data with named third-party advertising partners for personalized advertising. The statement discloses that even after opting out of personalized ads, data collected for advertising may continue to be used for product delivery, analytics, and fraud detection.
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"We may provide collected data to internal and external partners, including Xandr, other subsidiaries and affiliates, Yahoo, Facebook, or Trade Desk to help make sure the ads you see in our products and theirs, or on other sites, are more relevant to you. These companies currently include, but are not limited to: Facebook, Media.net, Outbrain, Taboola and Yahoo.Excerpt from Microsoft Azure's Microsoft Privacy
1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Third-party advertising data sharing implicates CCPA and applicable U.S. state privacy laws, which may classify this sharing as a sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, triggering opt-out rights and disclosure requirements. GDPR Articles 6 and 7 require a lawful basis for data disclosure to third parties for advertising purposes. The FTC Act's prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices applies to the adequacy of disclosures regarding advertising partner data sharing. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act may apply to EU users. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The disclosure that advertising data is also used for product delivery, analytics, and fraud detection may complicate the effectiveness of opt-outs under U.S. state privacy laws, which may require that opt-out of data sharing for advertising be complete and not conditional on continued use for other purposes. The named third-party list is described as non-exhaustive, creating uncertainty about the full scope of data sharing partners. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: California residents have specific opt-out rights under CCPA for sale and sharing of personal information, and the adequacy of Microsoft's opt-out mechanism warrants assessment against CCPA requirements. EU and EEA users are subject to GDPR consent requirements for advertising data sharing. Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws impose opt-out rights for targeted advertising that require evaluation. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Advertisers using Microsoft's advertising platform should assess whether data received from Microsoft includes personal data subject to downstream privacy obligations under applicable law. The non-exhaustive nature of the third-party list means procurement teams cannot rely on this disclosure for a complete picture of data sharing partners. Contracts with Microsoft for advertising services should be reviewed to confirm data processing obligations and liability allocations. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should assess whether Microsoft's opt-out mechanism satisfies CCPA's requirement for a clear and conspicuous opt-out of sale and sharing of personal information. Data mapping should document which personal data categories are shared with each named advertising partner. Organizations should evaluate whether their own advertising use of Microsoft's platform creates downstream privacy obligations under applicable law.
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This provision establishes that user data collected across Microsoft's product ecosystem is shared with multiple named external advertising entities, and the breadth of this sharing may require evaluation under CCPA's definitions of data sale and sharing, as well as GDPR's requirements for lawful basis for third-party data disclosure for advertising purposes.
The agreement authorizes sharing of personal data including browsing activity, interests, search queries, and device data with named third-party advertising partners for personalized advertising. The statement discloses that even after opting out of personalized ads, data collected for advertising may continue to be used for product delivery, analytics, and fraud detection.
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