Editing Microsoft (section)

===United States government===
Microsoft provides information about reported bugs in their software to intelligence agencies of the United States government, prior to the public release of the fix. A Microsoft spokesperson has stated that the corporation runs several programs that facilitate the sharing of such information with the U.S. government.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-to-swap-data-with-thousands-of-firms.html |title=U.S. Agencies Said to Swap Data With Thousands of Firms |work=Bloomberg |date=June 15, 2013 |access-date=March 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112075940/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-to-swap-data-with-thousands-of-firms.html |archive-date=January 12, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Following media reports about [[PRISM (surveillance program)|PRISM]], NSA's massive electronic [[Mass surveillance|surveillance program]], in May 2013, several technology companies were identified as participants, including Microsoft.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Ryan W. |last=Neal |title=Snowden Reveals Microsoft PRISM Cooperation: Helped NSA Decrypt Emails, Chats, Skype Conversations |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/snowden-reveals-microsoft-prism-cooperation-helped-nsa-decrypt-emails-chats-skype-conversations |work=[[International Business Times]] |date=July 11, 2013 |access-date=November 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203124001/http://www.ibtimes.com/snowden-reveals-microsoft-prism-cooperation-helped-nsa-decrypt-emails-chats-skype-conversations |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to leaks of said program, Microsoft joined the PRISM program in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Greenwald |first1=Glenn |last2=MacAskill |first2=Ewen |title=NSA Prism program taps into user data of Apple, Google and others |date=June 7, 2013 |work=[[The Guardian]]  |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data |access-date=April 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818114650/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data |archive-date=August 18, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, in June 2013, an official statement from Microsoft flatly denied their participation in the program: {{Blockquote | style=font-size:100% | text="We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition, we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data, we don't participate in it."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Kevin |last2=Martin |first2=Scott |last3=O'Donnell |first3=Jayne |last4=Winter |first4=Michael |title=Reports: NSA Siphons Data from 9 Major Net Firms |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/06/nsa-surveillance-internet-companies/2398345/ |access-date=June 6, 2013 |work=[[USA Today]] |date=June 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607113440/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/06/nsa-surveillance-internet-companies/2398345/ |archive-date=June 7, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

During the first six months of 2013, Microsoft received requests that affected between 15,000 and 15,999 accounts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo release US surveillance requests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/03/microsoft-facebook-google-yahoo-fisa-surveillance-requests |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 3, 2014 |access-date=December 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106175615/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/03/microsoft-facebook-google-yahoo-fisa-surveillance-requests |archive-date=January 6, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2013, the company made a statement to further emphasize the fact that they take their customers' privacy and [[Information privacy|data protection]] very seriously, even saying that "government snooping potentially now constitutes an '[[advanced persistent threat]],' alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks".<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Brad |title=Protecting customer data from government snooping |url=http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2013/12/04/protecting-customer-data-from-government-snooping/ |website=The Official Microsoft Blog |access-date=January 1, 2015 |date=December 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224072247/http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2013/12/04/protecting-customer-data-from-government-snooping/ |archive-date=December 24, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The statement also marked the beginning of three-part program to enhance Microsoft's encryption and transparency efforts. On July 1, 2014, as part of this program, they opened the first (of many) Microsoft Transparency Center, which provides "participating governments with the ability to review [[source code]] for our key products, assure themselves of their software integrity, and confirm there are no "[[Backdoor (computing)|back doors]]."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Thomlinson |first1=Matt |title=Advancing our encryption and transparency efforts |url=http://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2014/07/01/advancing-our-encryption-and-transparency-efforts/ |website=Microsoft on the Issues |access-date=January 1, 2015 |date=July 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101183639/http://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2014/07/01/advancing-our-encryption-and-transparency-efforts/ |archive-date=January 1, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Microsoft has also argued that the [[United States Congress]] should enact strong privacy regulations to protect consumer data.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Heiner |first1=David |title=Request for Comment: Big Data and Consumer Privacy in the Internet Economy |url=http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/microsoft.pdf |website=National Telecommunications and Information Administration |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814113914/http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/microsoft.pdf |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2016, the company [[Microsoft v. United States (2016)|sued the U.S. government]], argued that secrecy orders were preventing the company from disclosing warrants to customers in violation of the company's and customers' rights. Microsoft argued that it was unconstitutional for the government to indefinitely ban Microsoft from informing its users that the government was requesting their emails and other documents and that the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]] made it so people or businesses had the right to know if the government searches or seizes their property. On October 23, 2017, Microsoft said it would drop the lawsuit as a result of a policy change by the [[United States Department of Justice]] (DoJ). The DoJ had "changed data request rules on alerting the Internet users about agencies accessing their information."

In 2022 Microsoft shared a $9 billion contract from the [[United States Department of Defense]] for cloud computing with Amazon, Google, and Oracle.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farrell |first1=Maureen |title=Pentagon Divides Big Cloud-Computing Deal Among 4 Firms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/business/pentagon-cloud-contracts-jwcc.html |work=The New York Times |date=7 December 2022}}</ref>