Depending on which U.S. state you live in, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data that Microsoft holds, and to opt out of targeted advertising or automated decision-making using your data.
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
Multiple U.S. states now have enforceable privacy rights that go beyond federal law; knowing your state-specific rights and how to exercise them with Microsoft can meaningfully limit how your data is used for advertising and profiling.
Interpretive note: The specific rights available depend on the user's state of residence and unspecified exceptions; the practical scope of rights may vary by state and product context.
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 →New provision addressing state-level privacy rights under emerging U.S. state privacy laws including access, correction, deletion, portability, and opt-out rights for sales and targeted advertising.
View full change record →If you live in California, Colorado, Virginia, or other states with active privacy laws, the statement indicates you can request access, correction, deletion, or a copy of your personal data, and opt out of targeted advertising, by contacting Microsoft through its privacy dashboard.
How other platforms handle this
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...
For individuals in the United States, please also refer to our Notice For Individuals Residing In Certain US States below and the Consumer Health Data Policy.
If you are a California resident, you may have the right to: Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, sell, or share. Correct inaccurate personal information. Delete your personal information. Opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information. Limit the use and disclosure ...
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"Depending on your state of residence and subject to certain exceptions, you may have some or all of the following rights: The right to know what personal data is being collected about you and to access that information. The right to correct inaccurate personal data. The right to request deletion of your personal data. The right to obtain a copy of your personal data. The right to opt out of the sale of personal data or the sharing of personal data for targeted advertising. The right to opt out of certain automated decision-making or profiling.— Excerpt from Microsoft Azure's Microsoft Privacy
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision engages CCPA (California), the Colorado Privacy Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, and other emerging U.S. state privacy statutes. State attorneys general are the primary enforcement authorities. The FTC may also have concurrent jurisdiction over deceptive privacy practices. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The statement acknowledges state-specific rights but conditions them on state of residence and unspecified exceptions, which means the practical availability of rights may vary. Compliance teams should verify that Microsoft's response workflows meet state-mandated timelines (typically 45-60 days). (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: California residents have CCPA rights including the right to know, delete, correct, and opt out of sale or sharing. Other states with active statutes include Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, and others. The landscape is evolving and organizations should track newly enacted state laws. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Enterprise customers whose employees or customers are subject to U.S. state privacy laws should confirm that Microsoft's data processing commitments align with service provider obligations under those statutes, particularly regarding restrictions on secondary use of personal data. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Organizations should ensure that their privacy notices accurately reflect Microsoft's role and the data rights available to users, and that internal processes exist to route and fulfill data subject requests within required timeframes.
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Multiple U.S. states now have enforceable privacy rights that go beyond federal law; knowing your state-specific rights and how to exercise them with Microsoft can meaningfully limit how your data is used for advertising and profiling.
If you live in California, Colorado, Virginia, or other states with active privacy laws, the statement indicates you can request access, correction, deletion, or a copy of your personal data, and opt out of targeted advertising, by contacting Microsoft through its privacy dashboard.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 1 platforms. See the full comparison.
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