The EU Cybersecurity and Digital Crimes Forum is a full day conference on cyber and internet security addressing European policy makers and national security and digital crime specialists. We invite you to discover or re-discover key Microsoft programmes & initiatives around this topic. On March 27, I had the pleasure of attending the third annual Summit of the International Association of...

One problem, one solution, right? If I use some metaphors in my consulting work over and again, it’s because they work. One such concerns Ironbridge: the settlement in the English industrial West Midlands named after its most famous asset – the first ever iron bridge.

On 25 January 2012, the European Commission announced a proposed General Data Protection Regulation.  The Commission’s proposal introduces sweeping reforms designed to modernise Europe’s 17-year-old data protection regime. Microsoft welcomes steps to strengthen and harmonise the data protection regime.  Our company’s greatest asset is customer trust and our technologies are...

The EU Cybersecurity and Digital Crimes Forum is a full day conference on cyber and internet security addressing European policy makers and national security and digital crime specialists. We invite you to discover or re-discover key Microsoft programmes & initiatives around this topic. More protection for EU citizens, but organizational costs for enterprises, with sanctions determined at the...

The "Cloud computing and privacy: At the intersection of innovation, legislation and standardization" roundtable discussion seeks to explore the impact of cloud computing on the European economy and examine the challenges of the existing legislative frameworks. Presenters from the academia, policy and industry spheres will talk about the complexities of data protection regulation from different...

A big question for governments and business at the moment, and indeed for users of the internet all over the world, is how personal data – a person’s identity, personal materials, financial or sensitive information – can be protected in a workable and effective way.  This is particularly important in an age where we have ubiquitous connectivity, online business and social networking,...

Visit a website, get a cookie. You can’t see it, but it is a small file that is installed on your computer whenever you browse a travel site, buy books online or search for a new refrigerator. The cookie remembers you, allowing the site to store information about you and your preferences – and making you a better advertising target.

The EU Cybersecurity and Digital Crimes Forum is a full day conference on cyber and internet security addressing European policy makers and national security and digital crime specialists. We invite you to discover or re-discover key Microsoft programmes & initiatives around this topic. Scammers are getting more clever. But software companies and policymakers are becoming smarter too.

Governments across Europe increasingly recognize the benefits of making their non-sensitive and non-personal data open and reusable. For this reason, the topic was outlined in many discussions at the EU Digital Agenda Assembly that took place some weeks ago.In fact better access to public sector information based on open data can improve quality of life and facilitate interfacing with governments. The...

The EU Cybersecurity and Digital Crimes Forum is a full day conference on cyber and internet security addressing European policy makers and national security and digital crime specialists. We invite you to discover or re-discover key Microsoft programmes & initiatives around this topic. As those of you following policy issues in Europe are aware, data protection and online privacy are hot...

While the web, blogs and social networks have given users more freedom to express themselves, a substantial amount of political or otherwise motivated discourse has moved into the digital realm. Where controversial or contested content is at stake, companies in the ICT sector and policymakers face increasing challenges to respond. We all agree on the right to free expression in principle, and recognize that...

The Centre for eGovernance Development in Ljubljana and the Austrian Computer Society in Vienna have co-organised the 9th Eastern European eGov Days on "eGovernment in Times of Economic Challenges”.

As you may know, the EU is reviewing its data protection laws, and recently I participated in a hearing hosted by the European Parliament’s EPP group on one of the many important questions being looked at: “Who pays for Data Protection?”

New technologies become interwoven with our everyday lives and our relationship with gadgets is constantly evolving. Do the current terms and concepts of consumer protection remain valid in the digital age? What are the new vulnerabilities and do we need to re-learn consumer protection?

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President, yesterday gave an interesting speech at the French Assemblée Nationale in Paris. Brad talked about the trends and possibilities of cloud computing, and what needs to be done in the way of better laws and improved industry and government cooperation to get ready for this technological shift. Microsoft also released...

One of the Commission’s long-time dreams, according to the recent Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, has been an EU “single market” where people can trade without barriers between all of its Member States. The digital revolution that launched buying, selling and services online is helping this...

Cloud computing may indeed become one of the backbones of our digital future”, stated Vice-President Kroes in a speech on "Cloud computing and data protection". While discussing the potential opportunity that cloud computing represents, and that “the free movement of personal data within the EU is another way to help to complete the Digital Single Market in Europe”, she emphasized...

In this case study, you can read about how the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) worked with Active Web Solutions (AWS) to develop a cost-efficient, cloud-based application to help them save more lives at sea. High numbers of deaths at sea is a major concern for anyone in the fishing industry, with an estimated 24,000 crew members drowning worldwide each year. To try and prevent these...

Last week, Commissioner Reding re-stated her desire to reform and modernize the EU’s Data Protection Framework Directive (95/46/EC).

Safer Internet Day, organised by Insafe, will be celebrated on 9 February 2010 in more than 50 countries across the world and will this year focus on the theme “Think before you post!”

To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2010 and for the second year in a row, Microsoft subsidiaries across Europe are organizing employee volunteering activities to educate children, teachers and parents on how to make the best of the internet, and avoid the risks. Through local partnerships with NGOs, schools, customers and partners, around 650 Microsoft employees in 24 subsidiaries throughout Europe will train...

At her European Parliament hearing last week, Commissioner-Designate Viviane Reding mentioned online privacy as one of her key priorities.

New videos regarding Data Potection Day 2010 and the importance of data and online privacy!  

As each year, on 28 January 2010, we celebrate Data Protection Day in Europe and other continents to raise awareness on privacy and data protection amongst citizens.

With the web providing access to entertainment, banking and even healthcare, EU citizens are increasingly spending more time online. We have grown to rely and trust the internet to help us get on with our daily lives. However, the internet will fail to achieve its full potential if people lose faith in the way we protect people’s privacy and the information we share online. As a global leader,...

Confidential data need to be kept confidential – but there are times when the information needs to be shared, too. That's where the new EU Framework Programme Consequence comes in.