Microsoft class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: A group of minor plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft Corp.
- Why: The plaintiffs claim Microsoft harvests student data far beyond what is needed for education and profits from it without parental consent.
- Where: The Microsoft class action lawsuit was filed in Washington state court.
A new class action lawsuit alleges Microsoft harvests personal data from more than a million Washington K-12 students far beyond what schools need to provide an education.
A group of plaintiffs, four Washington school children, filed the complaint through their parent and legal guardian Ella Williams in King County Superior Court. The lawsuit claims Microsoft’s Windows operating system, Edge browser, Microsoft 365 Education suite and Minecraft Education platform enable the collection.
The complaint states Microsoft operates “a massive student-data harvesting apparatus far beyond what is necessary to provide education services to schools.”
The plaintiffs allege Microsoft gathers three categories of student information: education records such as grades and attendance, behavioral data including browsing history and app use, and “telemetric” data tracking physical interactions like typing speed and cursor movement.
Because students must use Microsoft’s products for compulsory schoolwork, the lawsuit alleges they are “captive participants” in its data harvesting. Microsoft aggregates the data into persistent digital profiles that predict students’ academic performance, emotional state and behavior, which the lawsuit likens to secret, unreviewable reports on children.
The Microsoft class action lawsuit seeks to represent a class of Washington residents who attended a K-12 school and used at least one Microsoft product — more than a million people, the plaintiffs estimate. They are demanding a jury trial.
Microsoft data harvesting allegedly included students’ health data
The class action lawsuit highlights Microsoft Teams’ “Reflect” feature, a social-emotional check-in tool for K-12 students. Students are prompted with statements such as “I am feeling anxious today” or “I am feeling overwhelmed today,” and the complaint alleges their responses are logged as required for schoolwork.
The plaintiffs argue these responses, along with Microsoft’s inferences about students’ stress and well-being, qualify as consumer health data under Washington’s My Health My Data Act, which requires affirmative consent before collecting.
The complaint also references two Austrian data protection rulings finding Microsoft’s education software tracked students without consent, plus a 2023 Federal Trade Commission settlement in which Microsoft paid $20 million to resolve allegations of unlawfully collecting children’s data.
Based on these claims, the Microsoft class action lawsuit accuses the company of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act and My Health My Data Act, invading students’ privacy through intrusion upon seclusion, and being unjustly enriched by using their data and labor without consent.
In another ongoing lawsuit, Microsoft is facing antitrust allegations it conspired with Valve, a video game developer, to fix prices for personal computer games.
Has your child’s school used Microsoft products in the classroom? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by M. Anderson Berry, Brook Garberding, Gregory Haroutunian and Brandon P. Jack of Emery Reddy P.C.; Julie U. Liddell, W. Andrew Liddell and Elizabeth Huddleston of EdTech Law Center PLLC; Andrew R. Tate of Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise LLP; Karen Dahlberg O’Connell of Almeida Law Group LLC; and Lori G. Feldman of Hecht Partners LLP.
The Microsoft class action lawsuit is A.W., et al. v. Microsoft Corporation, Case No. 26-2-26702-2, in the Superior Court for the State of Washington, King County.
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