In 2017, the Netherlands (as well as France) asked Microsoft, through the national Data Protection Agency, to intervene on the ways in which Windows 10  (in its Home and Pro versions) collects user data. Concerns have been raised regarding privacy, so much so that in April last year the Redmond group decided to intervene by modifying the dynamics ended under the magnifying glass of the authority.

Windows 10: DPA and the privacy issue

Today, according to reports by Reuters, the same DPA is back on the issue. Following the controls implemented to verify compliance with the provisions of the 2018 agreement, it emerged that the US company is now potentially responsible for another violation, always linked to the collection of information through the operating system.

Microsoft has complied with the signed agreement. Nonetheless, the control has also brought to light how Microsoft is collecting other information about users remotely. As a result, Microsoft is still potentially infringing privacy rules.

The Dutch agency has thus decided to pass the ball into the hands of the  Irish Data Protection Committee, since it is in that territory that Microsoft’s European headquarters is based. Confirmation comes directly from Dublin.

DPC has had a preliminary comparison with Microsoft and, thanks to the assistance of the Dutch authority, we will soon meet Microsoft again to get substantial answers about the concerns raised.

The Redmond group’s reply was not long in coming, with the software house focusing attention on the efforts made over the last few years to ensure the protection of information relating to users of the Windows 10 operating system.

We welcome the opportunity to further improve the tools and choices we offer to users.

What emerged during the first investigation served, among other things, to configure the regulatory framework present within the GDPR, the new continental regulation on data processing operational since May last year throughout Europe.