Microsoft fires back on Safe Harbor violations

Microsoft is pushing back a key component of a French government agency’s recent accusations. On July 20, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) ordered the software company correct a list of problems in Windows 10 it claimed threatened the privacy of French citizens. CNIL, which regulates data privacy, gave the company three months to do so before it would consider punitive measures. Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel David Heiner issued a statement denying one of the charges. CNIL alleged that Microsoft was still transferring data to the United States under Safe Harbor policies that no longer apply to the US. Safe Harbor is a European Union policy that allows consumer data to be stored abroad so long as it receives the same protections as EU law.