IANS

With the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR coming into effect on 23 May, Microsoft India has said that the law will herald a new era in consumer trust.

Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari on 23 May said the company vows to extend the core rights guaranteed under the new regulations to all of its customers worldwide.

"This is a golden opportunity for India to drive thought leadership in the global market. We can build expertise and capabilities, create new lines of advisory and consulting businesses, develop a market differentiator and be a source of competitiveness," Maheshwari said in a blogpost.

GDPR empowers people to control their personal information, setting a strong standard for privacy and data protection.

Maheshwari said that Microsoft understands how critical its role is in enhancing the privacy of customer data.

"Upholding customer trust in digital technology is at the heart of what we do. Staying secure in a digital-first, Cloud-first world can be tough, especially with constant cyber threats and the rules and regulations surrounding cybersecurity," the executive added.

He said that the company recognises that the tech sector has the first responsibility to address these issues, as the sector is in the centre of things, building the products and operating the platforms.

His comments came a day after company said that only by working together can bold ideas be developed for overcoming the security challenges of tomorrow.

"GDPR is an important step forward for privacy rights in Europe and around the world, and we've been enthusiastic supporters of GDPR since it was first proposed in 2012," Julie Brill, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft, wrote in a blog post this week.

"Known as Data Subject Rights, they include the right to know what data we collect about you, to correct that data, to delete it and even to take it somewhere else. Our privacy dashboard gives users the tools they need to take control of their data," she added.

The move is an important one, as Microsoft has received criticism in the past over the telemetry data it collects as part of Windows 10, Windows Central reported on 22 May.

Microsoft will be among a small number of companies participating in the official events in Brussels, which hosts the headquarters of the main EU institutions, on 25 May, the day when the GDPR comes into effect.

"We believe privacy is a fundamental human right. As people live more of their lives online and depend more on technology to operate their businesses, engage with friends and family, pursue opportunities, and manage their health and finances. The protection of this right is becoming more important than ever," Brill said.

"We are committed to making sure that our products and services comply with GDPR," Brill said, adding that Microsoft has had more than 1,600 engineers across the company working on GDPR projects.

"We feel good about what we achieved so far. But we know that 25 May isn't the end of our work. Instead, it is the beginning of the next phase of our focus on GDPR," she added.

Microsoft has also made significant investments in its products and services to help customers with GDPR compliance within Azure, Office 365, Windows, EMS, SQL Database and Dynamics 365.

The company designed its Cloud products with industry-leading privacy policies and security measures to safeguard customer data in the Cloud, including the categories of personal data identified by GDPR.