Microsoft told to stop tracking children in Europe

A European data protection watchdog has secured a win against Microsoft after finding that the big tech company “acted unlawfully.”

Noyb, the Austrian data protection watchdog, found that Microsoft violated a student’s privacy by installing tracking cookies on their device without consent.

The company has been accused of installing tracking cookies on the devices of minor students using its Microsoft 365 Education software.

Tracking cookies are used to analyze user behavior, collect browsing data, and enable targeted advertising.

In a previous filing, noyb claimed that Microsoft is attempting to “dominate the space” with the intention of making children accustomed to their system to create “a new generation of future ‘loyal’ customers.”

“As Microsoft 365 Education is widely used, the company is likely to track all minors using their educational products. The company has no valid legal basis for this processing,” noyb said.

The Austrian data protection authority (DSB) has decided that Microsoft illegally installed tracking cookies and that the tech company should stop tracking the student within four weeks.

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The school the child attends and the Austrian Ministry of Education state they were unaware that tracking cookies had been installed on the child’s device prior to the noyb complaints.

Microsoft attempted to pass the blame to its subsidiary in Ireland, claiming that this unit is responsible for Microsoft 365 products in Europe.

The Austrian DSB rejected this argument, claiming that Microsoft US is responsible for making the decisions.

Furthermore, noyb claims that “US big tech companies regularly argue that they fall under Irish jurisdiction, because the Irish Data Protection Commission is known to hardly enforce EU law.”

Noyb claims that Microsoft 365 Education is used by millions of students and teachers across Europe.

“As Microsoft 365 Education is widely used, the company is likely to track all minors using their educational products. The company has no valid legal basis for this processing,” noyb said.

This means there could be far-reaching implications for other countries and other children who, as noyb claims, are being groomed to become the next generation of Microsoft users.