Microsoft illegally installed cookies on schoolkid's tech, data protection ruling finds

Microsoft illegally installed cookies on a school pupil's devices without consent, according to a ruling by the Austrian data protection authority (DSB).

In the second ruling [PDF], won by Austria-based campaign group None of Your Business (noyb), the authority found that Microsoft acted unlawfully when it placed tracking cookies on the devices of a minor using Microsoft 365 Education.

Microsoft's own documentation says these cookies analyze user behavior, collect browser data, and are used for advertising. The DSB has also said the US software firm should stop tracking the complainant – whose identity was not disclosed – within four weeks. Both the school and the Austrian Ministry of Education claimed they were not aware of the tracking cookies before noyb raised the complaints.

Microsoft now has four weeks to comply and cease the use of tracking cookies on the devices of the minor. The Register has asked Microsoft to comment ...