Microsoft Azure · Microsoft Privacy · View original document ↗

AI and Copilot Data Use

High severity Medium confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Rare · 1 of 343 platforms
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Document Record

What it is

When you use Microsoft's Copilot or other AI-powered features, Microsoft collects your prompts (the questions or instructions you type), the AI's responses, and data about how you interact with those features, and may use this data to improve its AI products.

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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

Users interacting with AI features may not realize that their prompts and AI-generated responses can be collected and used for product improvement, which could include sensitive or confidential content depending on how the feature is used.

Interpretive note: The extent to which prompts are excluded from AI training in enterprise versus consumer deployments, and which specific opt-out controls apply, may vary by product and configuration and is not fully specified in the statement.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium Apr 19, 2026

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 →
Medium Apr 1, 2026

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 →
Medium Mar 6, 2026

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 →

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
May 10, 2026
First Seen
May 22, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 3350 other provisions on other platforms.

Change history

modified Jun 26, 2026

Provision changed from empty excerpt to detailed specification of AI data collection including prompts, content, responses, and usage patterns with explicit purposes.

View full change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Content you enter into Copilot or other AI features, including questions, instructions, and any sensitive information in those prompts, may be collected and used by Microsoft to develop and improve AI systems, subject to available settings and enterprise configuration.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Delete Your Data
    Visit your Microsoft privacy dashboard, locate AI and Copilot data settings, and review options to limit data use for product improvement or to delete stored interaction data.

How other platforms handle this

Ledger Medium

At Ledger, earning and maintaining our users' trust is a top priority. That's why we are deeply committed not only to protecting your privacy and securing your personal data, but also to being fully transparent about how we handle it.

Garmin Medium

If you are located in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom, you have the right to access, correct, or erase your personal data; the right to restrict or object to our processing of your personal data; the right to data portability; and, where our processing is based on your...

Strava Medium

We use information to enhance the quality, reliability, and/or accuracy of our AI Features by creating, developing, training, testing, improving, and maintaining AI and ML models run by Strava or our service providers. We use aggregated, de-identified data for this purpose. We also use personal info...

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Microsoft collects data from and about you when you use AI features in Microsoft products. This data includes your prompts and the content you provide, the responses you receive, and how you use AI features. We use this data to provide, improve, and develop AI features and Microsoft products and services more broadly.

— Excerpt from Microsoft Azure's Microsoft Privacy

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: AI data use engages the EU AI Act, GDPR's data minimization and purpose limitation principles, and emerging U.S. state AI transparency requirements. The FTC has indicated interest in AI data practices under the FTC Act. If prompts contain special category data under GDPR, heightened protections apply. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The use of user-generated prompts for AI model improvement is a significant and actively scrutinized area of privacy practice. The statement's disclosure that prompts may be used for improvement is broad and the specific opt-out or exclusion mechanisms for enterprise versus consumer contexts may not be fully clear from the statement alone. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA users may have rights under GDPR to object to processing of their data for purposes beyond direct service delivery. Enterprise customers in regulated industries (healthcare, legal, financial services) face heightened risk if employee prompts containing client or patient data are used for model training. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Enterprise customers should verify whether their Microsoft service agreements include data processing terms that exclude prompt data from AI training, and whether product-specific controls (such as those available in Microsoft 365 Copilot enterprise configurations) are enabled. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Organizations deploying Copilot should conduct a data protection impact assessment where required under GDPR, audit AI data use settings, and confirm with Microsoft whether consumer versus enterprise deployment affects data retention and training use.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over AI data practices under its consumer protection mandate and has actively reviewed how AI companies use training data.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
Colorado AI Act
US-CO
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US
VPPA
United States Federal

Provision details

Document information
Document
Microsoft Privacy
Entity
Microsoft Azure
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 27, 2026
Last verified
May 10, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-007942
Document ID
CA-D-00018
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
a67035af599dcfcefd7a22ae7c70147370fe6651cb96942500cd2ead91f2a017
Analysis generated
April 27, 2026 09:55 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Microsoft Azure
Document: Microsoft Privacy
Record ID: CA-P-007942
Captured: 2026-04-27 09:55:26 UTC
SHA-256: a67035af599dcfce…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/microsoft-azure/microsoft-privacy/ai-and-copilot-data-use/
Accessed: June 27, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

Other risks in this policy

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Microsoft Azure's AI and Copilot Data Use clause do?

Users interacting with AI features may not realize that their prompts and AI-generated responses can be collected and used for product improvement, which could include sensitive or confidential content depending on how the feature is used.

How does this clause affect you?

Content you enter into Copilot or other AI features, including questions, instructions, and any sensitive information in those prompts, may be collected and used by Microsoft to develop and improve AI systems, subject to available settings and enterprise configuration.

How many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 1 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Microsoft Azure?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Azure.