Microsoft increases data protection for enterprises following Dutch MoJ audit

▤ Summary

Microsoft has made privacy changes related to Office 365 following an audit 12 months ago for the Dutch justice ministry, which raised concerns over data leaks. On the technical side, feedback from the Dutch justice ministry and others led Microsoft to roll out a number of new privacy tools across its major services and make specific changes to Office 365 ProPlus, as well as increased transparency regarding use of diagnostic data. At the time, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, assistant supervisor at the EDPS, said: “We are committed to driving positive change outside the EU institutions to ensure maximum benefit for as many people as possible. The agreement reached between the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and Microsoft on appropriate contractual and technical safeguards and measures to mitigate risks to individuals is a positive step forward.” The EDPS said it recognised that EU institutions outsource the processing of large amounts of personal data, but highlighted that EU institutions still remain accountable for any processing activities carried out on their behalf. “Through the OST update we are announcing today we will increase our data protection responsibilities for a subset of processing that Microsoft engages in when we provide enterprise services,” Brill wrote in the blog post.

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