Germany and France Forces a Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace Ban Due to Privacy Concerns

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 22:19:00 Dan

Germany and France Forces a Microsoft 365 and #Google Workspace Ban Due to Privacy Concerns

The central German state of Hesse’s local #DataProtection Authority (DPA) has banned the use of #Microsoft365 in its schools, citing concerns over #privacy violations. According to the authority, the program’s settings gather data from within the users’ programs. This clearly violates the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (#GDPR) policies.

The #Microsoft 365 debate has been a longstanding one in #Germany. In 2018, several state courts, including the federal German court, found that Microsoft violated local laws connected to the GDPR. From there, the Microsoft 365 ban spread to #France. The ban has mostly affected educational institutions and companies that work with these programs. 

More at https://techgenix.com/microsoft-365-ban-in-germany/ and https://borncity.com/win/2022/11/23/free-microsoft-365-and-google-workspace-banned-from-frances-schools/

About the author

Dan

Dan

 

I'm a long-time user and enthusiast of open source software and espouse the philosophy that software code should be open (readable). So that everyone can see what happens behind the scenes while we use our electronic devices every day.