This privacy statement applies to Microsoft.com and Microsoft websites, services and products that collect data and display these terms, as well as their offline product support services. It does not apply to Microsoft sites, services and products that do not display or link to this statement or that have their own privacy statements.
Please read the summaries below and click on "Learn More" for more details on a particular topic. You may also select from the products listed above to view that product's privacy statement. Some products, services or features mentioned in this statement may not be available in all markets. You can find more information on Microsoft's commitment to protecting your privacy at http://www.microsoft.com/privacy.
Most Microsoft sites use "cookies," small text files that can be read by a web server in the domain that put the cookie on your hard drive. We may use cookies to store your preferences and settings; help with sign-in; provide targeted ads; and analyze site operations.
We also use web beacons to help deliver cookies and compile analytics. These may include third-party web beacons, which are prohibited from collecting your personal information.
You have a variety of tools to control cookies and similar technologies, including:
Our Use of Cookies
Most Microsoft web sites use "cookies," which are small text files placed on your hard disk by a web server. Cookies contain text that can be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. That text often consists of a string of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies your computer, but may contain other information as well. Here is an example of the text stored in a cookie that Microsoft might place on your hard disk when you visit one of our web sites: E3732CA7E319442F97EA48A170C99801
We may use cookies for:
Some of the cookies we commonly use are listed in the following chart. This list is not exhaustive, but it is intended to illustrate some of the reasons we set cookies. If you visit one of our web sites, the site may set some or all of the following cookies:
In addition to the cookies Microsoft may set when you visit our web sites, third parties may also set certain cookies on your hard drive when you visit Microsoft sites. In some cases, that is because we have hired the third party to provide certain services on our behalf, such as site analytics. In other cases, it is because our web pages contain content or ads from third parties, such as videos, news content or ads delivered by other ad networks. Because your browser connects to those third parties’ web servers to retrieve that content, those third parties are able to set or read their own cookies on your hard drive.
How to Control Cookies
For example, in Internet Explorer 9, you may block cookies by taking the following steps:
Instructions for blocking cookies in other browsers are available at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/.
Please be aware that if you choose to block cookies, you may not be able to sign in or use other interactive features of Microsoft sites and services that depend on cookies, and some advertising preferences that are dependent on cookies may not be able to be respected.
For example, in Internet Explorer 9, you may delete cookies by taking the following steps:
Instructions for deleting cookies in other browsers are available at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/.
Please be aware that if you choose to delete cookies, any settings and preferences controlled by those cookies, including advertising preferences, will be deleted and may need to be recreated.
Browser Controls for “Do Not Track” and Tracking Protection. Some newer browsers have incorporated “Do Not Track” features. Most of these features, when turned on, send a signal or preference to the web sites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Those sites may continue to engage in activities you might view as tracking even though you have expressed this preference, depending on the sites’ privacy practices.
Internet Explorer 9 has a feature called Tracking Protection that helps prevent the web sites you go to from automatically sending details about your visit to third-party content providers. When you add a Tracking Protection List, Internet Explorer will block third-party content, including cookies, from any site that is listed as a site to be blocked. By limiting calls to these sites, Internet Explorer will limit the information these third-party sites can collect about you. And when you have a Tracking Protection List enabled, Internet Explorer will send a Do Not Track signal or preference to the web sites you visit. For more information about Tracking Protection Lists and how to find them, please see the Internet Explorer privacy statement or Internet Explorer Help.
Individual advertising companies may also offer their own opt-out capabilities plus more advanced advertising choices. For instance, Microsoft’s advertising preference and opt-out controls are available at http://choice.live.com/advertisementchoice/. Please note that opting out does not mean that you will stop getting ads or see fewer ads; however, if you do opt out, the ads that you receive will no longer be behaviorally targeted. In addition, opting out does not stop information from being collected.
Our Use of Web Beacons
Microsoft web pages may contain electronic images known as web beacons - sometimes called single-pixel gifs - that may be used to help deliver cookies on our sites, let us count users who have visited those pages and deliver co-branded services. We may include web beacons in our promotional e-mail messages or newsletters to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon.
We may also work with other companies that advertise on Microsoft sites to place web beacons on their sites or in their advertisements to let us develop statistics on how often clicking on an advertisement on a Microsoft site results in a purchase or other action on the advertiser's site.
Finally, Microsoft sites may contain web beacons from third parties to help us compile aggregated statistics regarding the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns or other web site operations. These web beacons may allow the third parties to set or read a cookie on your computer. We prohibit third parties from using web beacons on our sites to collect or access your personal information. Nevertheless, you may be able to opt out from data collection or use by these third-party analytics companies by clicking the links for each of the following analytics providers:
Other Similar Technologies
In addition to standard cookies and web beacons, web sites can use other technologies to store and read data files on your computer. This may be done to maintain your preferences or to improve speed and performance by storing certain files locally. But, like standard cookies, it can also be used to store a unique identifier for your computer, which can then be used to track behavior. These technologies include Local Shared Objects (or "Flash cookies") and Silverlight Application Storage.
Local Shared Objects or "Flash cookies." Web sites that use Adobe Flash technologies may use Local Shared Objects or "Flash cookies" to store data on your computer. Note that the ability to clear Flash cookies may or may not be controlled by your browser setting for standard cookies as that may vary by browser. To manage or block Flash cookies, go to http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html.
Silverlight Application Storage. Web sites or applications that use Microsoft Silverlight technology also have the ability to store data by using Silverlight Application Storage. To learn how to manage or block such storage, visit Silverlight.
Microsoft collects many kinds of information in order to operate effectively and provide you the best products, services and experiences we can.
We collect information when you register, sign in and use our sites and services. We also may get information from other companies.
We collect this information in a variety of ways, including from web forms, technologies like cookies, web logging and software on your computer or other device.
Microsoft collects many kinds of information in order to operate effectively and provide you the best products, services and experiences we can. Some of this information you provide directly to us. Some of it we get by observing how you interact with our products and services. Some of it is available from other sources that we may combine with the data we collect directly. Regardless of the source, we believe it's important to treat that information with care and to help you maintain your privacy.
What we collect:
How we collect:
We use a number of methods and technologies to gather information about how you use our sites and services, such as:
Microsoft uses the information we collect to operate, improve and personalize the products and services we offer.
We also may use the information to communicate with you, for example, informing you about your account and security updates.
And we may use the information to help make the ads you see on our ad-supported services more relevant.
Microsoft uses the information we collect to operate, improve and personalize the products and services we offer. Information collected through one Microsoft service may be combined with information collected through other Microsoft services to give you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with us. We may also supplement this with information from other companies. For example, we may use services from other companies to help us derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.
We also may use the information to communicate with you, for example, informing you when a subscription is ending, letting you know when security updates are available or letting you know when you need to take action to keep your account active.
Microsoft provides many of our sites and services free of charge because they are supported by advertising. In order to make these services widely available, the information we collect may be used to help improve the advertisements you see by making them more relevant to you.
Except as described in this privacy statement, we won’t disclose your personal information to a third party without your consent.
Please see Other Important Privacy Information for details about when we may disclose information, including with Microsoft affiliates and vendors; when required by law or to respond to legal process; to combat fraud or protect our interest; or to protect lives.
Click here for more information on sharing or disclosing personal information:
Some Microsoft services give you the ability to view or edit your personal information online. To help prevent others from viewing your personal information, you first will be required to sign in. How you can access your personal information will depend on which sites or services you have used.
Microsoft.com - You can access and update your profile on microsoft.com by visiting the Microsoft.com Profile Center.
Microsoft Billing and Account Services - If you have a Microsoft Billing account, you can update your information at the Microsoft Billing web site by clicking on the "Personal Information" or "Billing Information" links.
Microsoft Connect - If you are a registered user of Microsoft Connect, you can access and edit your personal information by clicking Manage Your Connect Profile at the Microsoft Connect web site.
Windows Live - If you have used Windows Live services, you can update your profile information, change your password, view the unique ID associated with your credentials, or close certain accounts by visiting Windows Live Account Services.
Windows Live Public Profile - If you have created a public profile on Windows Live, you may also edit or delete information in your public profile by going to your Windows Live profile.
Search Advertising - If you buy search advertising through Microsoft Advertising, you can review and edit your personal information at the Microsoft adCenter web site.
Microsoft Partner Programs - If you are registered with Microsoft Partner Programs, you can review and edit your profile by clicking Manage Your Account on the Partner Program web site.
Xbox - If you are an Xbox LIVE or Xbox.com user, you can view or edit your personal information, including billing and account information, privacy settings, online safety and data sharing preferences by accessing My Xbox on the Xbox 360 console or on the Xbox.com web site. For account information select My Xbox, Accounts. For other personal information settings, select My Xbox, then Profile, then Online Safety Settings.
Zune - If you have a Zune account or a Zune Pass subscription, you can view and edit your personal information at Zune.net (sign in, access your Zune tag then My Account) or through the Zune software (sign in, access your Zune tag, then select Zune.net profile).
If you cannot access personal data collected by Microsoft sites or services via the links above, these sites and services may provide you with other ways to access to your data. You can contact Microsoft by using the web form. We will respond to requests to access or delete your personal information within 30 days.
When a Microsoft site or service collects age information, it will block users under 13 or obtain consent from a parent or guardian before their child can use it.
When consent is granted, the child's account is treated much like any other account, including being able to communicate with other users.
Parents can change or revoke consent as described in this privacy statement.
When a Microsoft site or service collects age information, it will either block users under 13 or will ask them to provide consent from a parent or guardian before they can use it. We will not knowingly ask children under 13 to provide more information than is necessary to provide the service.
When consent is granted, the child's account is treated much like any other account. The child may have access to communication services like e-mail, instant messaging and online message boards and may be able to communicate freely with other users of all ages.
Parents can change or revoke the consent choices previously made, and review, edit or request the deletion of their children's personal information. For example, on Windows Live, parents can visit their Account, and click on "Parental Permissions".
Most of the online advertisements on Microsoft sites and services are displayed by Microsoft Advertising. When we display online advertisements to you, we will place one or more cookies in order to recognize your computer when we display an ad to you. Over time, we may gather information from the sites where we serve ads and use the information to help provide more relevant ads.
You may opt out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our opt-out page.
Many of our web sites and online services are supported by advertising.
Most of the online advertisements on Microsoft sites and services are displayed by Microsoft Advertising. When we display online advertisements to you, we will place one or more persistent cookies on your computer in order to recognize your computer each time we display an ad to you. Because we serve advertisements on our own web sites as well as those of our advertising and publisher partners, we are able to compile information over time about the types of pages, content and ads you, or others who are using your computer, visited or viewed. This information is used for many purposes, for example, it helps us try to ensure that you do not see the same advertisements over and over again. We also use this information to help select and display targeted advertisements that we believe may be of interest to you.
You may opt out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our opt-out page. For more information about how Microsoft Advertising collects and uses information, please see the Microsoft Advertising Privacy Statement.
We also allow third-party ad companies, including other ad networks, to display advertisements on our sites. In some cases, these third parties may also place cookies on your computer. These companies currently include, but are not limited to: 24/7 Real Media, adblade, AdConion, AdFusion, Advertising.com, AppNexus, Bane Media, Brand.net, CasaleMedia, Collective Media, InMobi, Interclick, Jumptap, Millennial Media, nugg.adAG, Mobclix, Mojiva, SpecificMedia, Tribal Fusion, ValueClick, Where.com, Yahoo!, YuMe, Zumobi. These companies may offer you a way to opt out of ad targeting based on their cookies. You may find more information by clicking on the company names above and following the links to the web sites of each company. Many of them are also members of the Network Advertising Initiative or the Digital Advertising Alliance, which each provide a simple way to opt out of ad targeting from participating companies.
You can stop the delivery of future promotional e-mail from Microsoft sites and services by following the specific instructions in the e-mail you receive. Depending on the respective service, you may also have the option of proactively making choices about the receipt of promotional e-mail, telephone calls, and postal mail for particular Microsoft sites or services.
If you receive promotional e-mails from us and would like to stop getting them in the future, you can do so by following the directions in that message.
Depending on the respective service, you may also have the option of proactively making choices about the receipt of promotional e-mail, telephone calls, and postal mail from particular Microsoft sites or services by visiting and signing into the following pages:
In any case, you can inform Microsoft by using this web form about your wish to stop the delivery of future promotional e-mail. These choices do not apply to the display of online advertising: please refer to the section "Display of Advertising (Opt-out)" for information on this matter. Nor do they apply to the receipt of mandatory service communications that are considered part of certain Microsoft services, which you may receive periodically unless you cancel the service.
Microsoft account (formerly known as Windows Live ID and Microsoft Passport) is a service that allows you to sign into Microsoft products, web sites and services, as well as those of select Microsoft partners. When you create a Microsoft account, we ask you to provide certain information. When you sign into a site or service using your Microsoft account, we collect certain information in order to verify your identity on behalf of the site or service, to protect you from malicious account usage, and to protect the efficiency and security of the Microsoft account service. We also send certain information to a site or service you have signed into with your Microsoft account.
To view additional details about Microsoft account, including how to create and use a Microsoft account, how to edit account information, and how we collect and use information relating to a Microsoft account, please click on Learn More.
Microsoft account (formerly known as Windows Live ID and Microsoft Passport) is a service that allows you to sign into Microsoft products, web sites and services, as well as those of select Microsoft partners. This includes products, websites and services such as the following:
Creating a Microsoft account.
You can create a Microsoft account here by providing an email address, a password and other "account proofs", such as an alternate email address, a phone number, and a question and secret answer. We will use your "account proofs" for security purposes only - for instance, to verify your identity in the event that you cannot access your Microsoft account and need assistance, or to reset your password if you cannot access the email address associated with your Microsoft account. Some services may require added security, and in those cases, you may be asked to create an additional security key. The email address and password that you use to sign up for your Microsoft account are your "credentials" that you will use to authenticate with our network. Furthermore, a 64-bit unique ID number will be assigned to your credentials and will be used to identify your credentials and associated information.
When you create a Microsoft account, we will also ask you to provide the following demographic information: gender; country; birthdate; and postal code. We may use birthdate to verify that children obtain appropriate consent from a parent or guardian to use a Microsoft account, as required by local law. In addition, this demographic information is used by our online advertising systems to provide you with personalized advertisements about products and services you might find useful, but our advertising systems never get your name or contact information. In other words, our advertising systems do not contain or use any information that can personally and directly identify you (such as your name, email address and phone number). If you prefer not to receive personalized ads, you may register your preference with your Microsoft account by visiting this page so that whenever you sign into web sites or services with your Microsoft account, our advertising systems will not serve you personalized ads. For more information about how Microsoft uses information for advertising, please see the Microsoft Advertising Privacy Supplement.
You can use an email address provided by Microsoft (such as those ending in live.com, hotmail.com, or msn.com) or an email address provided by a third party (such as those ending in gmail.com or yahoo.com) when signing up for your Microsoft account.
Upon creating a Microsoft account, we will send you an email asking you to verify that you are the owner of the email address associated with your Microsoft account. This is designed to verify the validity of the email address and help prevent email addresses from being used without the permission of their owners. Thereafter, we will use that email address to send you communications relating to your use of Microsoft products and services; we may also send you promotional emails about Microsoft products and services as permitted by local law. For information about managing your receipt of promotional communications, please visit Communications.
If you attempt to register for a Microsoft account and find that another individual has already created credentials with your email address as the user name, you may contact us and request that the other individual adopt a different user name so that you may use your email address when creating your credentials.
Signing into software, sites or services with your Microsoft account.
When you sign into a site or service using your Microsoft account, we collect certain information in order to verify your identity on behalf of the site or service, to protect you from malicious account usage, and to protect the efficiency and security of the Microsoft account service. For instance, when you sign in, the Microsoft account service receives and logs your credentials and other information, such as the 64-bit unique ID number assigned to your credentials, your IP address, your web browser version and a time and date. Further, if you use a Microsoft account to sign into a device or into software that is installed on a device, a random unique ID is assigned to the device; this random unique ID will be sent as part of your credentials to the Microsoft account service when you subsequently sign into a site or service with your Microsoft account. The Microsoft account service sends the following information to the site or service that you have signed into: a unique ID number that permits the site or service to determine whether you are the same person from one sign-in session to the next; the version number assigned to your account (a new number is assigned each time you change your sign-in information); whether your email address has been confirmed; and whether your account has been deactivated.
Some third party sites and services that permit you to sign in with your Microsoft account require your email address in order to provide you with their services. In those cases, when you sign in, Microsoft will provide your email address but not your password to the site or service. However, if you created your credentials with the site or service, it may have limited access to information associated with your credentials in order to help you reset your password or provide other support services.
If you received your account from a third party, like a school, a business, an internet service provider, or the administrator of a managed domain, that third party may have rights over your account, including the ability to reset your password, view your account usage or profile data, read or store content in your account, and suspend or cancel your account. In these cases, you are subject to the Microsoft Service Agreement and to any additional terms of use from that third party. If you are the administrator of a managed domain and have provided your users with Microsoft accounts, you are responsible for all activity that takes place within such accounts.
Please note that sites and services that permit you to sign in with your Microsoft account can use or share your email address or other personal information that you provide to them as described in their privacy statements. However, they can share the unique ID number provided to them by the Microsoft account service with third parties only in order to fulfill a service or transaction that you may have requested. All sites or services that use the Microsoft account are required to have a posted privacy statement, but we do not control or monitor the privacy practices of those sites, and their privacy practices will vary. You should carefully review the privacy statement for each site you sign into in order to determine how each site or service will use the information it collects.
Accessing your personal information.
You can access your personal information by going to account. You can change your user name if your Microsoft account does not belong to a managed domain. You can always change your password, alternate email address, phone number, and question and secret answer. You may also close your Microsoft account by going to account, and then "Close your account." If your account is in a managed domain, as described above, there may be a special process for closing your account. Please note that if you are an MSN or a Windows Live user, if you go to account, you may be redirected to account for those sites.
More information about Microsoft account is available at the Microsoft account web site.
Learn more about
Below you will find additional privacy information you may (or may not) find important. Much of this describes common practices that we want you to know about but don't think it's necessary to highlight in every one of our privacy statements. And some of this is just stating the obvious (for example, we will disclose information when the law requires it), but our lawyers make us say it anyway. Please keep in mind that this information is not a complete description of our practices - this is all in addition to the other, more specific information contained in the privacy statements for each Microsoft product and service you use.
On this page:
Sharing or Disclosing Personal Information
In addition to any sharing described in the privacy statement for the product or service you are using, Microsoft may share or disclose personal information:
We also may share or disclose personal information, including the content of your communications:
Please note that our sites may include links to third-party sites whose privacy practices may differ from those of Microsoft. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by the privacy statements on those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy statement of any site you visit.
Protecting the Security of Personal Information
Microsoft is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. For example, we store the personal information you provide on computer systems that have limited access and are in controlled facilities. When we transmit highly confidential information (such as a credit card number or password) over the Internet, we protect it through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
If a password is used to help protect your accounts and personal information, it is your responsibility to keep your password confidential. Do not share it. If you are sharing a computer, you should always log out before leaving a site or service to protect access to your information from subsequent users.
Where Information is Stored and Processed
Personal information collected on Microsoft sites and services may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country where Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries or service providers maintain facilities. Microsoft abides by the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Economic Area, and Switzerland. To learn more about the Safe Harbor program, and to view our certification, please visit http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/.
Microsoft may retain your personal information for a variety of reasons, such as to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and as long as necessary to provide services. To learn how to access your personal information, visit Accessing Your Information.
Changes to Our Privacy Statements
We will occasionally update our privacy statements to reflect customer feedback and changes in our services. When we post changes to a statement, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of the statement. If there are material changes to the statement or in how Microsoft will use your personal information, we will notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes before they take effect or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review the privacy statements for the products and services you use to learn how Microsoft is protecting your information.
TRUSTe Certification and Enforcement of Our Privacy Statements
Most Microsoft privacy statements have TRUSTe's Privacy Seal, signifying the privacy statement and the practices it describes have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTe's program requirements, including transparency, accountability and choice in the collection and use of your personal information. The TRUSTe program does not cover information that may be collected through downloadable software. An independent third party, TRUSTe has a mission to accelerate online trust among consumers and organizations globally through its privacy seal and innovative trust solutions.
If you have questions regarding one of our privacy statements, you should first contact us by using our Web form. If we do not acknowledge or satisfactorily address your inquiry, you should contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php. TRUSTe will serve as a liaison with Microsoft to resolve your concerns.
How to Contact Us
Microsoft Privacy, Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington 98052 USA
To find the Microsoft subsidiary in your country or region, see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/.
FTC Privacy Initiatives
Security at home
Trustworthy Computing