Quote:Proton has accused Microsoft's new Outlook for Windows app for becoming a data collection service. It has outlined the various ways and data that the email app harvests from end users.

Proton Mail's article is about a week old and flew under my radar, but given that user privacy is at stake, I think it warrants a discussion here. The Switzerland-based email service has termed the new Outlook as a surveillance tool that is used for targeted advertising.

Microsoft Outlook is sharing user data with 772 advertisersA

ccording to Proton, some users in Europe who download the new Outlook for Windows app, will see a modal (pop-up) that displays a user agreement, which mentions that Microsoft shares your data with 772 third-parties. Yes, you read that right, 772. The only reason you may see that pop-up is because the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) makes it mandatory for web services to inform users about data collection and cookies. The rest of the world isn't as lucky.



Interestingly, users in the U.K. can view a "list of advertising partners" that are working with the Redmond company. Instead of a universal toggle to opt-out of these ads, the app displays a toggle for each advertising company, along with a privacy policy for each ad service. Proton says that these policies are written in a way to confuse users, allowing the companies to sell the personal data of users to third-parties.
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