US EditionAustria Orders Microsoft to Stop Tracking School Children: Privacy Campaigners
Austria's data protection authority found Microsoft lacked legal basis for tracking cookies in schools and ordered compliance within four weeks to protect pupils' data under GDPR.
- On January 21st, Austria's data protection authority ordered Microsoft 365 Education to stop using tracking cookies in education software, setting a four-week deadline after finding no legal basis to process personal data.
- After two complaints in 2024, the DSB investigated Microsoft 365 Education and found cookies were installed on a pupil's device without consent, continuing past rulings of illegal tracking last year.
- Documentation and regulator requests reveal Microsoft documentation shows tracking cookies analyse user behaviour, collect browser data, and the DSB's information request demands clarity on terms like 'internal reporting' and 'business modeling'.
- Schools and the Austrian Ministry of Education reported they were unaware that Microsoft pushed data-protection obligations onto schools and failed to respect access rights, while noyb's legal cases often prompt regulatory action.
- The complaint traces back to the COVID-19 pandemic shift to online learning when schools rapidly adopted Microsoft 365 Education, and None of Your Business began working after the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Austria orders Microsoft to stop tracking school children: privacy campaigners
Austria’s data protection authority has ordered Microsoft to stop using tracking cookies in education software, a privacy campaign group said Tuesday, marking its latest victory against the U.S. tech giant.
Microsoft must stop giving advertising cookies on a student's computer without consent within four weeks.
The Austrian Data Protection Authority orders Microsoft to stop using tracking cookies on student devices using its office suite. The company has four weeks to comply.
Microsoft must immediately stop tracking school children. This has been clarified by the Austrian Data Protection Authority (DSB) after an audit of Microsoft 365 Education. The US Group now has four weeks to implement this. (Read more)
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