Microsoft Launches Home-based Transparency Center, Unveils Encryption for OneDrive and Outlook.com

Microsoft is pushing forward with its promises to protect customer data and, at the same time, provide evidence that the company has no dire intentions.

In, Advancing our encryption and transparency efforts, Microsoft's Matt Thomlinson, Vice President of Trustworthy Computing Security, is announcing three milestones in its quest to supply resolutions to commonly regarded stigmas of privacy and security.

First, Outlook.com is now protected by Transport Layer Security (TLS) for both outbound and inbound email and integrates Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). PFS alters the encryption key for every connection, to make it harder for hackers to decrypt communications.

Secondly, Microsoft is announcing that OneDrive will also use PFS for the web, and all applications and sync clients.

And, lastly, Microsoft is opening a Transparency Center at the company headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The Transparency Center is an important step for ensuring that worldwide governments have the ability to review source code. Countries such as China have accused Microsoft of embedding backdoors into its software to allow the U.S. government to have full access for spying. The first Transparency Center opened in Brussels in January 2014 and Microsoft plans to open further strategic locations geographically.