Microsoft to Adopt ISO/IEC 27018

To provide Trustworthy Cloud Computing, Microsoft has adopted world’s first international cloud privacy standard, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).By adopting this, Microsoft has become the first major cloud player to standardize with ISO.

Microsoft has also adopted the international security standard which is designed to outline procedures involved with the handling of personally identifiable information within a cloud infrastructure.

The announcement follows verification by independent auditors that Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online, and Intune are aligned with ISO/IEC 27018, to provide a uniform, international approach to protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the public cloud.

Since all data stored inside of a customer’s cloud is deemed private, the information inside cannot be used for marketing or advertising purposes. The adoption of the standard also means that any requests for personal data by authorities would result in Microsoft notifying the customer of the request.

Adhering to ISO 27018 assures protection of privacy to enterprise customers in various ways -       

• Customers stay in control of their data
• There is stronger security and protection for data
• The customer database is not used for marketing against the users’ wishes
• Customers are informed when/if the data is accessed by the government