A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Microsoft’s new consumer privacy campaign and a quiz we developed – Your Privacy Type (YPT) – for consumers to gauge where they fall on the privacy continuum. Thus far, the campaign and the YPT quiz have generated discussion and positive reactions in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Germany. We’re also seeing strong engagement with consumers...

Early February, European Commission Vice-President Kroes set-out the Commission’s digital priorities for 2013-14, a package of 7 actions around the regulatory environment for broadband, with the headline Digital Agenda target of ‘100 MBps for every European’ in mind. And that includes efforts ranging from rules on wholesale broadband and engineering costs, to universal...

It’s an important time for privacy in Europe and globally, and I want to share few of my insights from recent events in Brussels we organized around Privacy and the revision of the EU Data Protection Directive.

Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to privacy, and works hard to earn the trust of customers around the world by, in part, developing and adopting meaningful privacy practices. To this end we have been facilitating @Microsoft Conversations on Privacy in Washington, D.C. for over a year, on each occasion bringing together a diverse mix of stakeholders to explore some of the most pressing issues related...

The Net Neutrality discussion has always been emotive on both sides (Internet providers & users, and Telecoms). However, the discussion has now matured.

Late June several hundred academics, entrepreneurs, regulators, politicians, civil society and other ‘digital enthusiasts’ met in Brussels for the second annual Digital Agenda Assembly, led by the European Commission.

This week privacy authorities from all 27 European Union member states adopted a long-awaited Opinion clarifying what companies must do to safeguard the private information of Europe’s citizens when these companies use cloud services. Known as the Article 29 Working Party, the Opinion from these experts is essential reading for every business considering moving to the cloud.

At last year’s Online Tracking Protection & Browsers workshop in Brussels, Vice President Kroes said  “we should collectively pay more attention to the emerging 'do-not-track' technologies – or DNT for short.” 

For several weeks now, internet users visiting MSN sites in EEA countries will have seen a small “AdChoices” icon next to online adverts appearing on the sites.

On March 27, I had the pleasure of attending the third annual Summit of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP) in Brussels. I was greeted by over 100 IAMCP partners who had come together to position innovative SMEs at the centre of Europe's economic recovery.

The use of the Internet, PCs, smart phones and tablets have become an indispensable part of how we study, work and interact with friends, and family. Unfortunately, technology has become an indispensable tool for criminals as well.

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.

More protection for EU citizens, but organizational costs for enterprises, with sanctions determined at the EU level – that, in a nutshell, is the EU Commission’s proposal for General Data Protection Regulation.

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.

In the last ten years Microsoft has invested heavily in user privacy. Just like security, privacy considerations are baked into every Microsoft product.

In November 2008, the French magazine Le Tigre published "Marc L.," a portrait of a 29-year-old who worked for an architecture firm near Bordeaux. The author had never met his subject but needed only a few minutes of Web searching to discover a large number of personal details, right down to his girlfriend’s name, her parents’ address, and what he did on his last vacation.

Today, Commissioner Neelie Kroes announced the CEO Coalition on Child Online Safety. Microsoft is pleased to be a founding member of this coalition.

Microsoft’s innovation’s magazine FUTURES released an interview with ROBERT MADELIN, Director-general for Information Society and Media at the European Commission.

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.

This week in Luxembourg, the European Commission is hosting its 7th annual Safer Internet Forum, bringing together representatives of industry, law enforcement, child welfare organizations, and policymakers to discuss the most pressing issues involved in ensuring digital safety for European citizens.

Connected to the Internet, the PC and mobile devices have created enormous opportunities for people of all ages to enhance the way they work, learn, play and communicate.

More than 100 million people in Western Europe will buy a smartphone this year. Within minutes of opening the package they will be setting up connections to mail servers, downloading third-party applications and synchronising music and games with their existing online life.

Scammers are getting more clever. But software companies and policymakers are becoming smarter too.

As those of you following policy issues in Europe are aware, data protection and online privacy are hot topics in Brussels at the moment.  In fact, these are getting a lot of attention from governments, companies and consumers all over the EU.  At the forefront of the discussion is the upcoming publication of the Commission’s proposal to update EU data protection rules, which should appear...

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”.

The successful future of online advertising depends on the trust of consumers, which in turn depends on transparency. Yesterday Microsoft along with other industry players signed the IAB Europe led Online Behavioural Advertising Framework (OBA), a piece of self-regulation that will help users understand and control behavioural advertising that they receive.

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?

On the topic of cloud computing, Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, put a stake in the ground recently at the World Economic Forum, saying that she wanted Europe not simply to be cloud-friendly but also to be cloud-active. I was pleased to see her emphasis on several legal, technical and commercial issues that are most relevant to a...

The protection of one’s personal information continues to garner attention as online services become increasing popular, whether it be social networking, communications via smartphone, or other aspects of cloud computing.

Microsoft supports Safer Internet Day, a global campaign promoting a healthy Internet for all. Organized by Insafe and co-founded by the European Union, Safer Internet Day promotes more responsible use of online technologies and services.

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...

Just how strong is trust in a modern society? The more we depend on technologies to carry out or mediate our everyday activities, the more we need to make sure that we trust them to do so. How do you inspire user trust without any face-to-face contact? Do we need trustmarks or rather trust user experience?

Microsoft’s announcement this week of new privacy-enhancing technologies in our upcoming Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser is our latest move towards giving users simple, clear options for controlling how their information is used on the internet.

I had the pleasure of opening the first European Summit of Microsoft’s Health Users Group this week in Brussels. The focus of the summit was on using cloud computing to create a “win-win” in the provisioning of wellbeing, that is, reducing costs while increasing the satisfaction of patients and health care providers.

Growth has been the watchword at the Government Leaders Forum (GLF) in London. It’s an event that brings together some of the region’s most influential public sector figures under one roof, in an effort to find new ways to drive sustainable economic growth in Europe.

For some, the talk of cloud computing produces more haze than light, and there is no doubt: we all need to see the deeper analysis of the economics of the cloud in order to make decisions about information technology strategies.  I work with public administrations across Europe, and see that the interest level in cloud computing is high, but there is also widespread desire for better understanding of...

Consumers are at the heart of the EU Digital Agenda, and for very good reason. It is the consumerization of ICT that plays an icreasing role in incentivizing innovation in the ICT sector. We will see measure and initiatives that aim at improving transparency of online rights and increasing trust over the next years. Technology can play an important part in supporting these goals.

A few months ago I authored a post that sets the context for some of the privacy discussion that’s currently happening, and how we think about privacy in Windows Live.

The discussion about cloud computing really has come out of nowhere, and yet everywhere in the information and communications and technology industries, we find people talking about it.

Chances are you already have a reputation online, even if you don't want one. On Web sites across the Internet, people can find information about you.

As our use of the Internet and related technologies evolves, so do our privacy needs and concerns – and possibly too the need to adapt the legal framework.   

Microsoft welcomes the “Digital Agenda for Europe” as a bold roadmap for action. We share the European Commission’s view that technology is an enabler for economic growth, job creation, sustainability and social inclusion. As a company, we are fully committed to working with the European Commission and governments to realize the potential of Europe's digital future.

One aspect of government we thoroughly dislike here in the UK is useless and inefficient bureaucracy. 

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

The age of ‘cloud computing’ is dawning, which will allow our data, software and computing power to be on our desktop and extended online as and when needed. This will provide many new opportunities for businesses and other organisations to manage large amounts of data and activities securely, efficiently and cost-effectively.

Last week I published a video interview I conducted with Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, where he explains his vision of cloud computing.

Safer Internet Day is all about creating awareness to help protect young people online.  

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...

Last week turned into a seriously busy week as the Council of Europe and the European Commission celebrated the 4th Data Protection Day. We (Microsoft) were there too,   because we are deeply committed to engage on this important issue.   Sophie in’t Veld MEP, Commissioner Reding, Bruno Waterfield (moderator) Daily Telegraph, Peter Hustinx, EDPS, Alexander Alvaro MEP   Data...

Short presentation of the selected videos for the Think Privacy competition ran by European Schoolnet and supported by Microsoft.The event took place on January 28, 2010 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Microsoft, in partnership with European Voice and its sister publications in Washington DC, Roll Call and Congressional Quarterly, is hosting a high-level transatlantic dialogue on how technology can enable innovation and transformation in the field of health.

This week, we will see a very busy Data Protection Day.

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.

Views and commentaries from Europe’s ICT & eHealth thought leaders. Filmed during the Friends of Europe Summit in Brussels - December 2009.

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,...

eHealth is key to better patient care. Here are the basics, as described by a series of experts. Filmed at an event hosted by Microsoft Europe - Interoperability and eHealth - in September 2009.

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.

Innovation in the ICT sector has transformed how a large segment of the world's population works, communicates, learns, shops and plays. Today's online consumer benefits from unprecedented access to information and services - and most of it for free.