COMPANY PROFILE
Microsoft
Headquarters: Redmond, United States · Listed: NASDAQ: MSFT
7 fines or sanctions
What it does and how it makes money
Microsoft sells software and cloud services to people, businesses and governments, such as Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, Xbox and the Bing search engine; it also owns the professional network LinkedIn.
In fiscal year 2026 its revenue was split between Productivity and Business Processes (USD 139,996 million), Intelligent Cloud (USD 137,791 million) and More Personal Computing (USD 54,052 million). [1]
What data it collects about you
According to regulators, Bing placed advertising cookies without consent, Xbox collected personal data from children at sign-up, and LinkedIn used members' data for behavioural advertising.
How it turns your data into money
Microsoft collects data from your interactions with its products and uses cookies, web beacons and pixels, including from partners and third parties, for personalised advertising. It states it may use your data to 'advertise and market to you', with promotional communications and offers, and that ads may be personalised using information about you over time; it says advertising helps support some of its products. If you search Bing for 'running shoes', you may see related ads in other Microsoft products; you can opt out of personalised ads on its preferences page. [2]
Where it is incorporated
Microsoft Corporation, a corporation incorporated in the State of Washington (USA) with principal offices at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington, listed on Nasdaq; founded in 1975. [3]
Taxes and low-tax countries
Its 2026 annual report states that its tax rate is below the U.S. federal rate primarily because it produces and distributes products through its 'foreign regional operating center in Ireland', taxed at a rate lower than the U.S. rate, which generated 81% of its foreign income before tax in 2026 and 2025 (83% in 2024). In addition, on September 26, 2023 the IRS issued Notices of Proposed Adjustment seeking $28.9 billion plus penalties and interest for 2004-2013, primarily over intercompany transfer pricing; Microsoft disagrees and is contesting them. [3]
Competition and monopoly
In March 2004 the European Union fined Microsoft €497 million for abusing its dominance with Windows. On September 12, 2025 the European Commission accepted Microsoft's commitments as legally binding for up to 10 years to close the case over tying Teams to Office 365/Microsoft 365 (Slack complaint): offering the suites without Teams at a discount, letting customers switch to Teams-free packages and easing interoperability and data portability. [4]
Money
Fines and sanctions
In total: 2,568.5 million EUR + 20 million USD
- DPC (Irlanda) · Ireland · October 24, 2024310 million EURGDPR (LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary): processing members' data for behavioural advertising without a valid legal basis and without sufficient transparency. [5]
- FTC · United States · June 5, 202320 million USDSettlement with the FTC: Xbox collected personal data from children without notifying or getting consent from parents and kept it for years (COPPA). These are the FTC's allegations, resolved by settlement. [6]
- CNIL · France · December 202260 million EURPlacing advertising cookies on bing.com without prior consent and without a way to refuse them as easily as accepting them (Microsoft Ireland Operations). [7]
- Comisión Europea · European Union · March 6, 2013561 million EURAntitrust: breaking its commitment to show a browser choice screen; about 15.3 million Windows 7 SP1 users did not see it. [8]
- Comisión Europea · European Union · February 27, 2008
899 million EUR860 million EURAntitrust: failing to comply with the 2004 decision by charging unreasonable prices for interoperability information. Reduced to EUR 860 million by the EU General Court in June 2012. [8] - Comisión Europea · European Union · July 2006280.5 million EURAntitrust: failing to comply with the March 2004 decision. [9]
- Comisión Europea · European Union · March 2004497 million EURAntitrust: abuse of a dominant position, including bundling Windows Media Player with Windows and failing to supply interoperability information. Upheld by the EU Court of First Instance in September 2007. [9]
Data breaches and hacks
Ask it to delete your data
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Its website
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Sources
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000789019/000119312526323632/msft-ex99_1.htm
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement
- https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000119312526323660/msft-20260630.htm
- https://www.news4jax.com/business/2025/09/12/microsoft-resolves-european-union-probe-into-teams/
- https://dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/press-releases?page=3
- https://www.ftc.gov/node/81119
- https://thehackernews.com/2022/12/france-fines-microsoft-60-million-for.html
- https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2013/03/antitrust-alert--european-commission-fines-microsoft-561-million-for-breach-of-commitments
- https://cms.law/en/gbr/legal-updates/european-commission-fines-microsoft-889million
- https://www.geekwire.com/2020/microsoft-exposed-250m-customer-service-records-due-misconfiguration-internal-database/
What this profile does NOT say
- It does not say this company does anything illegal. The only thing it states about anyone’s legality is what a regulator or a court has already decided, with the date and the link to the source.
- It does not say what data of yours it holds: only the company knows, which is why you have the right to ask it.
- If you are this company and a fact is wrong, write to hola@guardianagroup.com and it will be corrected, with its date.
Public facts with their sources, checked on October 12, 2026. All profiles →