Facebook is not the only giant of the Internet that seems to be focusing its attention on the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), on 25 May 2018.
The social media site has recently been publicising its global privacy hub, in an effort to show how keen it is to comply with GDPR stipulations.
Microsoft Joining in
Now Microsoft has joined in with the effort. The company has been providing information about what it is doing, to help with compliance with GDPR, and to deal with the issue of personal data in a professional, and security conscious, manner.
One of the first actions that Microsoft has taken is to make an addition to the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard. This addition is an Activity History page where users can easily see what data is currently saved in their Microsoft account. They are also able to keep control of privacy settings. This increased level of control over personal data is an important ethos of GDPR.
However, Microsoft is not finished there. Over the next few months, users will see themselves having even more control over what is happening in their Microsoft account. They will be able to manage media consumption data and product and service activity data.
This ability to manage helps to satisfy two important aspects of GDPR; the right to data portability and the right to be forgotten. This is because users can choose to transfer personal data from their dashboard to another place, and they can also choose to delete data. With the release of Windows 10 Redstone 4, all Windows users will also be able to see what diagnostic information about their device is being held, by using Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer.
All of these changes show how seriously big companies, such as Microsoft, are taking the implications of the introduction of GDPR.