Austrian data authority orders Microsoft to stop using tracking cookies in education software, citing illegal data processing of children’s personal information.
VIENNA: Austria’s data protection authority has ordered Microsoft to cease using tracking cookies in its education software.
The decision follows complaints by privacy campaign group Noyb, which argued the software violated children’s data protection rights.
The authority, DSB, found Microsoft lacked a legal basis to process personal data.
It gave the company four weeks to stop using cookies that are not technically necessary on students’ devices.
“Tracking minors clearly isn’t privacy-friendly,” said Felix Mikolasch, a data protection lawyer at Noyb.
Cookies that analyse user behaviour for advertising were installed on a pupil’s device without consent, according to the campaigners.
This latest ruling, dated January 21, marks another victory for Noyb against the tech giant.
The group filed two complaints against Microsoft in 2024 regarding its widely used school software.
Last year, the DSB determined Microsoft had illegally tracked students using this software.
It also ordered the company to grant students access to their data.
Microsoft did not immediately react to a request for comment on the new order.
Noyb has launched hundreds of legal cases since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in 2018.
The landmark GDPR aims to give people more control over how companies use their personal information.
The campaign group’s actions have often prompted regulatory authorities to act against major tech firms.
