This analysis describes what Microsoft'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
The provision defines the operational basis for Microsoft's data acquisition practices and establishes the multiple collection mechanisms through which user information flows into Microsoft systems during service use and account management.
The updated policy establishes additional grounds on which Microsoft may retain personal data. While the prior version tied retention to specific user expectations and available deletion controls, the revised language authorizes retention for 'operating our business, meeting our contractual and legal obligations, improving and developing our products and services, protecting the safety and security of our systems and customers, and resolving disputes.' This expands the stated purposes beyond transaction fulfillment and legal compliance. The updated policy directs users to product-specific documentation for retention details rather than providing explicit deletion procedures and timelines in the privacy statement itself.
View change record →The updated policy now grounds data retention in five broad business purposes: operating the business, meeting contractual and legal obligations, improving and developing products and services, protecting system and customer safety, and resolving disputes. Previously, the policy articulated specific criteria for determining retention periods, including customer expectations for retention until manual deletion, availability of automated deletion controls, and data sensitivity. The revised language removes these granular criteria and instead requires users to consult individual product documentation to understand when their specific data will be deleted. This shifts the burden of finding retention timelines from the main policy statement to separate product-specific documents.
View change record →The updated Privacy Statement removes previously stated language about additional rights available to European Economic Area users, narrowing the policy's explicit protections in that region. Simultaneously, the revised terms now explicitly authorize Microsoft to contact users via auto-dialer and prerecorded voice for marketing purposes, provided the user has consented to receive marketing communications to the phone number supplied. This establishes Microsoft's contractual permission to initiate automated marketing calls using artificial intelligence-generated voice technology where user consent to marketing contact has been given.
View change record →Users are notified that Microsoft collects personal data through direct provision, automated interaction tracking via cookies and software analytics, and third-party data sources. The terms authorize these collection practices as standard operational procedures across Microsoft products and services.
How other platforms handle this
"By clicking 'Next', you are indicating that you have read and agree to the TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY"
We automatically collect certain information from your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Service, we collect information about the individual web pages or products th...
Location data. Data about your device's location, which can be either precise or imprecise. For example, we collect location data using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (e.g., GPS) and data about nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots. Location can also be inferred from a device's IP address...
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"Microsoft collects data from you, through our interactions with you and through our products. You provide some of this data directly, such as when you create a Microsoft account, administer your organization's licensing account, submit a search query to Bing, register for a Microsoft event, speak a voice command to Cortana, upload a document to OneDrive, purchase a Microsoft product or service, or contact us for support. We get some of it by recording how you interact with our products by, for example, using technologies like cookies, and receiving error reports or usage data from software running on your device. We also obtain data from third parties.— Excerpt from Microsoft's Microsoft Privacy Statement (Legacy)
Netflix updated its Privacy Statement on April 18, 2026, disclosing voice recording collection and expanded household ad profiling for the first time.
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The provision defines the operational basis for Microsoft's data acquisition practices and establishes the multiple collection mechanisms through which user information flows into Microsoft systems during service use and account management.
Users are notified that Microsoft collects personal data through direct provision, automated interaction tracking via cookies and software analytics, and third-party data sources. The terms authorize these collection practices as standard operational procedures across Microsoft products and services.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 15 platforms. See the full comparison.
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