Microsoft pledged to increased transparency and user control over data

Companies have been feeling justified pressure from individuals concerning data collection and usage, especially when users themselves have limited control over the data generated from them. This includes Microsoft, one of the tech world's largest companies.

In a post by Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Julie Brill, the company laid out its plans to further let customers manage their data when using some of Microsoft's flagship products such as Windows 10 and Microsoft Bing.

The post lays out 3 key points in Microsoft's plan for data:

• For all its major products, Microsoft will categorize the data it collects from devices as either required or optional. • Microsoft will increase transparency about the data it collects by improving product documentation, specifically laying out the data it will be collecting from the previous points "required" and "optional" sets. • Microsoft will introduce a new report to be published twice a year at privacy.microsoft.com.

The company's privacy website mentioned in the third point is also host to a dedicated section for users that want to ask privacy related questions or require privacy-based support.

Brill concluded the post announcing these 3 upcoming changes to Microsoft's data practices by stating that the company will follow up and continue to "look at ways to evolve how [Microsoft provides] transparency and control" in relation to how it uses user data.

Further coverage: Microsoft blog gHack Tech News