Microsoft collects voice recordings when you use voice-enabled features like Cortana or dictation, and may use these recordings to improve speech recognition. You can delete voice data through your account settings.
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Voice data is a sensitive biometric-adjacent category of personal data; the statement authorizes its collection and use for service improvement, and consumers in states with biometric privacy laws such as Illinois should be aware of this practice.
Interpretive note: Whether voice recordings constitute biometric data or biometric identifiers under state biometric privacy laws such as Illinois BIPA depends on jurisdiction-specific statutory definitions and ongoing case law.
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 →This new provision addresses voice/audio data collection specifically, clarifying user control mechanisms and deletion rights for voice data, reflecting growing consumer concerns about audio privacy.
View full change record →Using voice features in any Microsoft product may result in voice recordings being collected and used for speech recognition improvement. Users can delete collected voice data by navigating to their Microsoft account privacy settings.
How other platforms handle this
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.
If we collect health information from these integrations (such as heart rate), we will not sell or use it for advertising or other similar purposes; we do not disclose it to third parties without your prior consent; and we will only use it for the specific purposes described in this Policy.
We collect your personal data when you use our Services, create a new eBay account, provide us with information via a web form, add or update information in your eBay account, participate in online community discussions or otherwise interact with us.
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"We collect voice data—such as your search queries, voice commands, and short phrases—when you use voice features. We may use your voice data to improve speech recognition and related services. You can turn off voice features at any time, and previously collected voice data can be deleted through your Microsoft account settings.— Excerpt from Microsoft's Microsoft Privacy Statement (Legacy)
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Voice data collection may implicate Illinois BIPA where voice recordings constitute biometric identifiers or biometric information as defined under that statute; GDPR Article 9 on special categories of data may apply if voice data is used in a way that could identify health, ethnic, or other sensitive characteristics; the FTC Act applies to representations about voice data practices. Enforcement authorities include the Illinois Attorney General (for BIPA), EU data protection authorities, and the FTC. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The classification of voice recordings as biometric data under Illinois BIPA is subject to ongoing legal interpretation; organizations deploying Microsoft voice features for employees or customers in Illinois should assess BIPA exposure. GDPR data minimization and purpose limitation requirements apply to voice data used for model improvement. JURISDICTION FLAGS: Illinois BIPA creates heightened exposure for voice data collection and use; Texas and Washington state biometric privacy laws may also be relevant. EU and UK users are entitled to specific GDPR protections for voice data that may qualify as biometric data under applicable interpretation. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Enterprise agreements should be reviewed to assess whether voice data collected through Microsoft products in workplace settings is governed by additional data processing terms and whether employee notice and consent obligations apply. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should assess whether voice data collection through Microsoft products triggers BIPA notice and consent obligations; review GDPR data protection impact assessment requirements where voice data is processed at scale; and ensure deletion mechanisms described in the statement are technically functional.
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Voice data is a sensitive biometric-adjacent category of personal data; the statement authorizes its collection and use for service improvement, and consumers in states with biometric privacy laws such as Illinois should be aware of this practice.
Using voice features in any Microsoft product may result in voice recordings being collected and used for speech recognition improvement. Users can delete collected voice data by navigating to their Microsoft account privacy settings.
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