Microsoft handed the government encryption keys for customer data

Zac Bowden on Twitter / X

Microsoft says that it will work with the FBI to unlock your Windows PCs encrypted data if asked.BitLocker encryption keys that are uploaded to the cloud via your Microsoft Account are not encrypted on Microsoft's servers, which means the company is able to see the keys and… pic.twitter.com/BRYU6sUiCe— Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) January 24, 2026

Purpose of the "Windows" lock key

Despite Doubts, Federal Cyber Experts Approved Microsoft Cloud Service — ProPublica

A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.

Microsoft “Digital Escorts” Could Expose Defense Dept. Data to Chinese Hackers — ProPublica

The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expertise to identify malicious code.

Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant

Data brokers buy up huge amounts of information from cell phones and browsers to sell for targeted advertising. But the government, including ICE, also buys the data.

GPG Key Transition Statement - Michael Altfield's Tech Blog

After 8 years, I’ve decided to transition from my original GPG key and replace it with one that uses a stronger master key that meets NIST guidelines. Over 8 years ago–probably while lounging in my tiny dorm room in engineering school–I decided that I wanted the ability to communicate with my friends & family privately. I decided that I wanted the ability to encrypt my emails. I decided to generate a gpg key. In 2009–4 years before Edward Snowden unveiled that the US government was violating their own constitution by collecting & storing the internet activity of hundreds of millions of innocent US citizens–I generated & published my first gpg keypair. Since those teenage years, I graduated college with degrees in Computer Science and Secure Computing & Networking, worked for major tech firms, and begun working for the best independent journalism outlet in the US–Democracy Now! Though my colleagues, friends, & family infrequently used my gpg key in the past (don’t tell the NSA!), I finally work with a great team of people that take security seriously, and I’m using gpg to sign & encrypt my daily work emails. Unfortunately, my original master key was generated using gpg’s defaults . . . → Read More: GPG Key Transition Statement

Microsoft's open source tools were hacked to steal passwords of AI developers | TechCrunch

Microsoft shut down dozens of GitHub code repositories for Azure and AI coding tools after a reported hack.

It's Time To Leave Microsoft

Contrary to what you might believe from the title, this article isn't published to try to convince you to leave Microsoft (although, if you are still on the fence, please continue reading the section below); instead of providing you with a paralyzing amount of dystopian information that is already available

“Paper Trail” Podcast: Microsoft’s “Digital Escorts” Left DOD Vulnerable to Chinese Hackers — ProPublica

A little-known Microsoft program allowed China-based engineers to service the U.S. government’s sensitive computer systems — until reporter Renee Dudley found out about it.

Who owns your data?

A Supreme Court case about a bank robbery could redefine your digital rights.

Microsoft Closes Loophole That Created AI Porn of Taylor Swift

Following 404 Media’s reporting, Microsoft has made changes to a tool people were using to make AI nudes of celebrities.

Bastian Greshake Tzovaras (@gedankenstuecke@scholar.social)

It's great that a class of tool that by its very design is an unfixable security issue is forced into everything: «This works often enough that Måløy reported this to Microsoft as a security hole in March. He gave them a 90-day reporting window, Microsoft extended that twice to a total of 144 days, and they still didn’t have a solid fix. So Måløy posted about the hole on July 28th.» Copilot prompt injection goes viral in your documents https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/08/03/copilot-prompt-injection-goes-viral-in-your-documents/

Update on ongoing Microsoft review - Microsoft On the Issues

Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President, shared the below communication with Microsoft employees this morning. I want to let you know that Microsoft has ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD). I know many of you care about this topic, and I share more about...

Apple Warns Canada's Bill C-22 Could Force Encryption Backdoors

Apple and Meta have opposed a Canadian bill that the companies say could force them to create backdoor access to encrypted user data, should it pass through the country's parliament. Proposed by Canada's ruling Liberal Party, Bill C-22 contains provisions that could be similar ​to a UK data access provision order sent to Apple last year, depending on how they are implemented.