Data Protection Impact Assessments: Guidance for Data Controllers Using Microsoft Azure
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data controllers are required to prepare a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for processing operations that are "likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons." There is nothing inherent in Microsoft Azure itself that would necessarily require the creation of a DPIA by a data controller using it. Rather, whether a DPIA is required will be dependent on the details and context of how the data controller deploys, configures, and uses Microsoft Azure. In any case, a DPIA should begin early in the life of a project and run in parallel to the planning and development process.
The purpose of this document is to provide data controllers with information about Microsoft Azure that will help them to determine whether a DPIA is needed and, if so, what details to include.
Note
Microsoft is not providing any legal advice in this article. This article is being provided for informational purposes only. Customers are encouraged to work with their privacy officers (and/or Data Protection Officer (DPO) where designated) and/or legal counsel and/or advisors to determine the necessity and content of any DPIAs related to their use of Microsoft Azure or any other Microsoft online service.
Part 1: Determining whether a DPIA is needed
Article 35 of the GDPR requires a data controller to create a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) "[w]here a type of processing in particular using new technologies, and taking into account the nature, scope, context, and purposes of the processing, is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons." It further sets out particular factors that would indicate such a high risk, which is discussed in the following table: To determine whether a DPIA is needed, a data controller should consider these factors, along with any other relevant factors, in light of the controller's specific implementation(s) and use(s) of Microsoft Azure.
| High Risk Factor | Relevant Information about Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|
| A systematic and extensive evaluation of personal aspects relating to natural persons that is based on automated processing, including profiling and on which decisions are based that produce legal effects concerning the natural person or similarly significantly affect the natural person. | Microsoft Azure services are not designed to perform processing on which decisions are based that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals. However, because Azure is a highly customizable service, a data controller could potentially configure Azure services to be used for such processing. Controllers should make this determination based on their usage of Azure. |
| Processing on a large scale of special categories of data (personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation), or of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offenses. | Microsoft Azure is not designed to process special categories of personal data on a large scale. However, a data controller could use Microsoft Azure to process the enumerated special categories of data. Microsoft Azure is a highly customizable service that enables the customer to track or otherwise process personal data, including special categories of personal data. But as the data processor, Microsoft has no control over such use and has little or no insight into such use. It is incumbent upon the data controller to determine appropriate uses of the data controller's data. |
| A systematic monitoring of a publicly accessible area on a large scale. | Microsoft Azure is not designed to conduct or facilitate such monitoring on a large scale. However, a data controller could use Azure to process data collected through such monitoring. Microsoft Azure is a highly customizable service that enables the customer to track or otherwise process any type of data, including monitoring data. But as the data processor, Microsoft has no control over such use and has little or no insight into such use. It is incumbent upon the data controller to determine appropriate uses of the data controller's data. |
Part 2: Contents of a DPIA
Article 35(7) of the GDPR mandates that a Data Protection Impact Assessment specifies the purposes of processing and a systematic description of the envisioned processing. A systematic description of a comprehensive DPIA might include factors such as the types of data processed, how long data is retained, where the data is located and transferred, and what third parties may have access to the data and be supported by a data flow diagram. In addition, the DPIA must include:
- An assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the processing operations in relation to the purposes;
- An assessment of the risks to the rights and freedoms of natural persons; and
- The measures envisaged to address the risks, including safeguards, security measures, and mechanisms to ensure the protection of personal data and to demonstrate compliance with this Regulation taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of data subjects and other persons concerned.
The following table contains information about Microsoft Azure that is relevant to each of those elements. As in Part 1, data controllers must consider the details provided in the table, along with any other relevant factors, in the context of the controller's specific implementation(s) and use(s) of Microsoft Azure.
| Element of a DPIA | Relevant Information About Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|
| Purpose(s) of processing | The purpose(s) of processing data using Microsoft Azure is determined by the controller that implements, configures, and uses it. As specified by the Product Terms and Products and Services Data Protection Addendum (DPA), Microsoft, as a data processor, processes Customer Data to provide Customer the Online Services in accordance with Customer's documented instructions. As detailed in the standard Product Terms and Products and Services Data Protection Addendum (DPA), Microsoft also uses Personal Data to support a limited set of business operations. Microsoft is controller of the processing of personal data to support these specific business operations. Generally, Microsoft aggregates Personal Data before using it for our business operations, removing Microsoft's ability to identify specific individuals, and uses personal data in the least identifiable form that will support processing necessary for business operations. Microsoft will not use Customer Data or information derived from it for profiling or for advertising or similar commercial purposes. Note: Microsoft Azure is an online cloud platform for processing that is made up of several discrete online services, each of which has distinct purposes of processing. You can find descriptions of each Microsoft Azure service offering here. Microsoft Azure processes personal data only to provide customers its online services including purposes compatible with providing those services such as personalization, security, fraud and malware prevention, troubleshooting and improvement. |
| Categories of personal data processed | Customer Data: All data, including all text, sound, video, or image files, and software, that is provided to Microsoft by, or on behalf of, a customer through use of the enterprise service. Customer Data includes both (1) identifiable information of end users (for example, user names and contact information in Microsoft Entra ID) and customer content that a customer uploads into or creates in specific services (for example, customer content in an Azure Storage account, customer content of an Azure SQL Database, or a customer's virtual machine image in Azure Virtual Machines). Service-Generated Data: This is the data generated or derived by Microsoft through operation of the service, such as use or performance data. Most of these data contain pseudonymous identifiers generated by Microsoft. Support Data: This is data provided to Microsoft by or on behalf of Customer (or that Customer authorizes Microsoft to obtain from an Online Service) through an engagement with Microsoft to obtain technical support for Online Services. For more information regarding data processed by Azure, see the Product Terms, including the [Products and Services Data Processing Agreement (DPA)] (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Microsoft-Products-and-Services-Data-Protection-Addendum-DPA) and Microsoft Trust Center. |
| Data retention | Microsoft will retain and process Customer Data during the Customer's right to use the Online Service and until all Customer Data is retrieved by Customer or deleted in accordance with the terms of the Product Terms and Products and Services Data Protection Addendum (DPA). During the term of Customer's subscription, the Customer will have the ability to access and extract Customer Data stored in each Online Service. Except for free trials and LinkedIn services, Microsoft will retain Customer Data stored in the Online Service in a limited function account for 90 days after expiration or termination of Customer's subscription so that Customer may extract the data. After the 90-day retention period ends, Microsoft will disable Customer's account and delete the Customer Data. The customer can delete personal data pursuant to a Data Subject Request using the capabilities described in the Azure Data Subject Request GDPR Documentation. |
| Location and transfers of personal data | Customers have the ability to provision Customer Data at rest within specified geographic regions, subject to certain exceptions as set out in the Product Terms and Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum (DPA). Additional details regarding service deployments and data residency can also be found in the Microsoft Data Protection Addendum (DPA) to the Product Terms and on the Azure Global Infrastructure webpage. For personal data transferred out of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, Microsoft will ensure that transfers of Personal Data to a third country or an international organization are subject to appropriate safeguards as described in Article 46 GDPR. In addition to Microsoft's commitments under the Standard Contractual Clauses for processors and other model contracts, Microsoft abides by the terms of the Data Privacy Framework. |
| Data sharing with third-party subprocessors | Microsoft shares data with third parties acting as our subprocessors (as defined in the GDPR) to support functions such as customer and technical support, service maintenance, and other operations. Any subprocessors to which Microsoft transfers Customer Data, Support Data, or Personal Data will have entered into written agreements with Microsoft that are no less protective than the Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum. All third-party subprocessors with which Customer Data from Microsoft's Core Online Services is shared are included in the Online Services Subprocessor list. All third-party subprocessors that may access Support Data (including Customer Data that customers choose to share during their support interactions) are included in the Online Services Subprocessor List. |
| Data subject rights | When operating as a processor, Microsoft makes available to the customer (also known as the data controller) the personal data of its data subjects and the ability to fulfill data subject requests when they exercise their rights under the GDPR. Microsoft does so in a manner consistent with the functionality of the product and its role as a data processor. If Microsoft receives a request from the customer's data subjects to exercise one or more of its rights under the GDPR, the request will be redirected to the data controller. The Azure Data Subject Requests Guide provides a description to the data controller on how to support data subject rights using the capabilities in Azure. Requests from a data subject to exercise rights under the GDPR for personal data processed to support the legitimate business processes should be directed to Microsoft, as clarified in the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Microsoft generally aggregates personal before using it for our business operations and is not in a position to identify personal data for a specific individual in the aggregate. This action reduces privacy risk to the individual. Where Microsoft is not in a position to identify the individual, it cannot support data subject rights for access, erasure, portability, or the restriction or objection of processing. The Azure Data Subject Request GDPR Documentation provides a description of how to support data subject rights using the capabilities in Azure. |
| An assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the processing operations in relation to the purposes | Such an assessment will depend on the data controller's needs and purposes of processing. Microsoft takes measures such as the aggregation of personal data used by Microsoft to support business operations to support provision of the services, minimizing the risk of such processing to data subjects that use the service. Regarding the processing carried out by Microsoft, such processing is necessary and proportional for providing the services to the data controller. |
| An assessment of the risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects | The key risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects from the use of Microsoft Azure will depend on how and in what context the data controller implements, configures, and uses Microsoft Azure. Microsoft takes measures such as the aggregation of personal data used by Microsoft to support business operations to support provision of the services, minimizing the risk of such processing to data subjects that use the service. However, as with any service, personal data held in the service may be at risk of unauthorized access or inadvertent disclosure. Measures Microsoft takes to address such risks are discussed in the Product Terms, as further detailed later in this article. |
| The measures envisaged to address the risks, including safeguards, security measures, and mechanisms to ensure the protection of personal data and to demonstrate compliance with the GDPR taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of data subjects and other persons concerned | Microsoft is committed to helping protect the security of Customer Data. The security measures Microsoft takes are described in detail in the Product Terms. Microsoft complies with strict security standards and industry-leading data protection methodology. Microsoft is continually improving its systems to deal with new threats. More information regarding cloud governance and privacy practices is available at Trust Center's Managing compliance in the cloud page. Microsoft takes reasonable and appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard the personal data that it processes. These measures include, but are not limited to, internal privacy policies and practices, contractual commitments, and international and regional standard certifications. More information is available at Trust Center's Privacy page. Microsoft provides significant, transparent customer-facing security and privacy materials to help explain Microsoft's use and processing of personal data. Customers are encouraged to contact Microsoft with questions. Further, when Microsoft acts as a data processor, it complies with applicable provisions of the GDPR that apply to data processors. Where Microsoft processes personal data for its business operations, it complies with GDPR obligations that apply to data controllers. |