Microsoft’s free rein over EU staff data sparks privacy warning

The EU’s in-house data protection regulator said in its findings of a probe that institutions’ lack of control 'over which sub-processors Microsoft used and lack of meaningful audit rights also presented significant issues’. — Dreamstime/TNS

Microsoft Corp’s licensing agreements with European Union authorities gave the US tech giant free rein to oversee data processing activities for more than 45,000 EU officials, the institution’s own privacy watchdog warned.

The EU’s in-house data protection regulator said in its findings of a probe that institutions’ lack of control “over which sub-processors Microsoft used and lack of meaningful audit rights also presented significant issues”.