Xbox · Xbox Privacy Statement

Advertising and Targeted Marketing Data Use

Medium severity
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What it is

Microsoft uses your browsing behavior, purchase history, and inferred interests to show you targeted ads across its products, but says it does not read your emails or voice calls to target ads.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Your Xbox gameplay activity, browsing behavior, and purchase history may be used to build an advertising profile that drives personalized ads across Microsoft products — users can opt out of interest-based advertising through their Microsoft account privacy settings.

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
    Sign in to your Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com/privacy, navigate to 'Privacy dashboard', then 'Ad settings', and toggle off 'See personalized ads in your browser' and 'See personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account' to opt out of interest-based advertising.

Cross-platform context

See how other platforms handle Advertising and Targeted Marketing Data Use and similar clauses.

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

While Microsoft excludes communications content from ad targeting, it uses a broad range of behavioral and inferred interest data to deliver personalized advertising, and Xbox users' gameplay and interaction data may contribute to this advertising profile.

View original clause language
Microsoft uses data we collect to provide you with rich, interactive experiences. In particular, we may use data to show you advertising or serve Microsoft-selected content within Microsoft products and services. Microsoft does not use what you say in email, chat, video calls, or voice mail to target advertising to you. Microsoft's advertising cookies and similar technologies allow us to provide relevant advertising based on your inferred interests.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) (consent for behavioral advertising), Art. 21 (right to object to profiling), and Recital 47; the EU ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) for cookie-based advertising; CCPA/CPRA §1798.121 (sensitive personal information) and §1798.120 (opt-out of sale/sharing for advertising purposes); FTC Act Section 5 for deceptive advertising data practices; and the Digital Services Act (EU 2022/2065) for targeted advertising transparency.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC regulates behavioral advertising practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act and has enforcement authority over unfair or deceptive data collection for advertising purposes.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Xbox Privacy Statement
Entity
Xbox
Document last updated
April 29, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 27, 2026
Last verified
April 27, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-003193
Document ID
CA-D-00018
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
a67035af599dcfcefd7a22ae7c70147370fe6651cb96942500cd2ead91f2a017
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Xbox | Document: Xbox Privacy Statement | Record: CA-P-003193
Captured: 2026-04-27 09:55:26 UTC | SHA-256: a67035af599dcfce…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/xbox/xbox-privacy-statement/advertising-and-targeted-marketing-data-use/
Accessed: May 2, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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