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Privacy for young people

Last updated March 2023
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Your privacy is important. When you use Microsoft products and services, we get certain information about you. This information, like your name and email address, is called personal data. We want you to know what personal data we have about you and how we use it. We also want you to know that you have rights over that data.

We hope this page will help you, as a young person, learn about and understand Microsoft’s privacy practices and how to use our products in a way that protects your privacy. This page also highlights topics that may be helpful for parents and guardians.

If you have questions about the information in this page, you may want to talk to your parent or guardian. To read more about how Microsoft uses personal data, you can read the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Learn more about Microsoft and your privacy at privacy.microsoft.com.

  • Many of our products need personal data to work. The types of personal data we get depends on the products and features you use.

    When you use a Microsoft product, we might ask you to answer some questions about yourself. This might be things like your name, email address, and birthday. If you create an account with us, we may ask you to create a password.

    We also save some details about how you use our products and services. This might be the web pages you visit, games you play, purchases you make, or details about the device you use. You might also use a Microsoft service to create or share a file, like a photo or a document. We consider this your content, and we keep it for you.

    Sometimes we also get data about you from others. For example, if your account was created by a parent or guardian, we collect the information your parent or guardian gave about you. If you use a Microsoft product in your school, we may get some information about you from your teacher or school.

    Sometimes, we give you a choice about the data we get. But if you choose not to give us required data, you may not be able to use the product or feature. If you choose not to give us optional data, you can use the product, but some features may not work the same.

    Learn more about the personal data we collect in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  • Microsoft uses data to give you great experiences. We may use personal data to:

    • Provide and support our products.
    • Improve and develop our products.
    • Personalize our products and suggestions.
    • Advertise and promote our products.
    • Run and improve our business.

    When we use this data, we may link it to data from different sources. By linking this data, we can make your experience easier and it helps us to better run our business.

    We will not use your email, human-to-human chat, files or other personal content to target ads to you.

    Learn more about how we use personal data in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  • Some of our services include ads. If we know you are under 18, we won’t show you personalized ads. You may still see ads, but they will not be selected based on what we know about you.

    We will never use your email, human-to-human chat, files or other personal content to target ads to you.

    If you are over 18, you can opt-out of personalized advertising on our opt-out page.

    Learn more about advertising in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  • You can make choices about the data we get and how we use it. For example,

    • You can access and delete some of your data through the Microsoft privacy dashboard. Depending on your age and where you live, you may need parental permission to delete your data.
    • You can choose whether to receive certain messages from Microsoft.
    • Many of our products offer other privacy settings and controls that you can use. Learn more about where you can find privacy settings in Microsoft products.

    You can contact us about more ways to access or control your personal data. The best way to contact us is by using our web form. You can also learn more about how to export and delete your data on our Privacy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

    The laws where you live may give you certain rights, such as the right to access or request deletion of personal data. But we provide the above choices and controls to everyone, wherever they live. Please note that in some cases your ability to access or control your personal data may be limited (such as where we need to keep data for legal or other important reasons).

    Learn more about how to access and control your personal data in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

    Parents and guardians can learn more about how to access and delete child data in the Collection of data from children section of the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  • When you use our products at school or with a school account, your school may share your personal data with us. We collect and use student personal data only for education or school purposes, such as for products you can use for online learning.

    When you use our products for school, your school can control, access, and use your personal data. Your school can access email, chat, files or other content tied to the Microsoft product and your account. And your school can control product and account settings, including security and privacy-related settings.

    Some Microsoft products have social features. When you use these features, other users in your school or network may see your activity.

    Microsoft protects student personal data in the following ways:

    • We don’t sell student personal data.
    • We don’t use or share student personal data for advertising.
    • We gather information about a student only to support educational or school purposes, or as allowed by a parent or guardian.
    • We may share student personal data with other organizations working on our behalf for educational purposes. These organizations must agree to the same protections.

    Your school may ask you to follow rules and policies they have for using Microsoft products.

    If you have questions about what data your school shares, please contact your school.

  • We use strong security protections to help keep your data safe. These protections help prevent others from stealing your personal data or using it in a way that is harmful. But remember, online security is never perfect, so always be careful about what you share online.

    You can also help protect the security of your personal data. Here are some tips for protecting your privacy and safety online:

    • Use strong passwords, passcodes, or touch ID features to access your devices, apps, and accounts. Don’t use a password that people who know you might guess (like a pet’s name or your home address).
    • Don’t use the same password for every service you use. And never share your password with someone else (except a trusted adult, like a parent or guardian).
    • Be careful about who you share information with online. Only share personal information with people you know and trust.
    • Be careful about what information you share online. Don’t share information with strangers that could be used to identify or locate you. Sharing information like your real name, your school’s name, or a photo, could be enough to find you in the real world.
    • Don’t share information that could be used to embarrass you or hurt you. Remember, when you share information with someone or send a message to someone, that person could save it for a long time or forward it to someone else (or even lots of other people).

    Learn more online safety tips.

  • We share personal data for many reasons. With your consent, we share your data to complete transactions or provide products you use. We also share information when you tell us to, like when you send an email or share a document on OneDrive. If you use a Microsoft product provided by your school, we may share certain information about your use of the product with your school.

    We also share data for the following reasons:

    • Among companies owned by Microsoft to provide products and services
    • With other companies when they are working on our behalf (who can only use the data in the way we tell them to)
    • When required by law or to respond to a legal process, like a court ordered search warrant or a subpoena
    • To protect our customers and others
    • To help keep our products secure
    • To protect the rights and property of Microsoft and its customers

    We don’t sell your personal data.

    Learn more about reasons we share personal data in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

  • To originally create this page, we consulted with a group of young people who served on the 2021 Microsoft Council for Digital Good. In a virtual workshop, we spoke with them about why privacy matters and how they can protect their privacy while interacting with others online. In small groups, they reviewed the draft content for this page, asked questions, and shared their thoughts and feedback. Their participation helped us clarify how we explain our privacy practices using age-appropriate language and help young people better understand and manage their personal data. Read the story here: Kids Included: Enabling meaningful child and youth participation within companies in the digital era

    We sometimes update this page to make it clearer or to keep up with changes. Changes might be a new product, a different way of using data, or a change in the law. When we post changes, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this statement.