1 Principles2 Windows Privacy
In a blog post, Redmond is now pushing governments to create a universal international law to limit access to personal data. Additionally, the company wants authorities to create rules for when data can be accessed, and how. “As a global company entrusted by millions of users, we believe it is important for Microsoft to make clear how governments should address these issues,” Microsoft says. For that reason, we are sharing six principles that have driven, and will continue to drive, our advocacy as governments reform their laws and negotiate international agreements.” Microsoft has clashed with the US government over data acquisition from authorities. The DoJ originally requested data from Microsoft that was held in an Ireland-based data center. The company insists that it should not have to give up data held in foreign countries. Doing so would set a dangerous precedent and courts have so far agreed.
Principles
Speaking in the blog post, Microsoft president Brad Smith published six principles the company would like to see standardized:
Windows Privacy
It would be remiss not to mention Microsoft’s own problems with protecting user privacy. That company has been consistently criticized for its data gathering on Windows 10. Users are concerned Microsoft is aggressively farming data and giving them little choice. It is something that has earned the company criticism from regulators and advocacy groups. With that in mind, is the company’s push to keep government hands off data in the interests of users or is it a pursuit to keep authorities from prying into its services?
