German DPAs criticise Office 365

This is the finding of a consortium working group that had evaluated contracts and documents of the world’s largest software manufacturer in the course of an examination lasting several months.

The use of Microsoft 365 has long been controversial among the various German state data protection authorities. The main focus of criticism is on the alleged non-transparency of data flows. The Berlin Data Protection Commissioner, for example, recently warned against the use of Microsoft’s video call system Teams. In summer 2019, the supervisory authority in North Rhine-Westphalia said that Office 365 in particular could not be recommended, whilst the Baden-Wuerttemberg commissioner criticised “structural deficits” of the product.

In addition, after the recent “Schrems II” judgment, it can be expected that the handling of a potential data transfer to the US is likely to be another issue.

The consortium now is to form a working group that is to begin talks with the multinational technology company in order to achieve prompt improvements in its data protection compliance. The company has announced its intention to work closely alongside the authorities.