14 DAY TRIAL // As I’ve reported to you yesterday, some reports that showed up in China claimed that the local authorities asked all government offices to move from Windows 8.1 to Windows 7 because Microsoft’s latest operating system contains backdoors that allows the company to spy on its users.
The company has denied such claims in a statement sent to us today, explaining that no backdoors are included in its software and no government access is provided to user data.
“Microsoft does not provide any government with direct and unfettered access to our customers’ data, nor do we engineer back doors into our products. In fact, we’re expanding our Government Security Program (GSP), opening a network of transparency centers around the world to allow government customers to review our source code and confirm there are no back doors,” the company said.
This isn’t the first time when Microsoft is accused of using Windows to allow the government to spy on its users, so Microsoft and other tech companies, including long-time rival Google, have asked for more transparency and the permission to share more information on legal inquiries it receives from authorities.