Austria finds Microsoft 'illegally' tracked students: privacy campaign group
The Austrian Data Protection Authority has ruled that Microsoft 365 Education used tracking cookies without consent, collecting student data without proper transparency.
When students tried to exercise their GDPR rights, Microsoft directed them to their schools, but schools had almost no information to provide.
Ministries, too, lacked full insight into what data Microsoft was processing. The result: local schools were effectively powerless to comply with the law.
Microsoft also attempted to shift responsibility to its Irish subsidiary, but the ruling clarified that Microsoft US is accountable. The company will now have to explain how it uses student data for “business modeling” or “energy efficiency” and whether personal data was shared with LinkedIn, OpenAI, or tracking companies like Xandr.
Publication: France24
Writer: AFP