Microsoft is allowing companies to decide via an opt-in whether they want to move their Copilot data outside the EU, instead of enabling the option by default.
Microsoft recently announced that it would enable flex routing for business Copilot users starting April 17. This option allows Copilot data processing to take place outside the EU during peak times. Now, it is partially reversing that decision: the opt-out is being changed to an opt-in, Microsoft confirmed to Tweakers.
By default, Microsoft keeps the data of European customers on European soil. Microsoft is required to do so to comply with GDPR legislation. However, Microsoft wants to offer business Copilot customers the option to allow Copilot inference to take place outside the borders of the European Union for more capacity during peak times.
Flex routing
This transfer takes place via flex routing, as Microsoft describes on an information page. At the moment of inference—the moment Copilot processes a prompt—the data processing can temporarily take place outside the EU. In addition to the content of the prompt, this also includes company information and files shared with Copilot that are necessary to process the specific prompt.
Flex routing is carried out with the necessary precautions. Data remains encrypted at rest and in transit, and data at rest always remains on European soil to ensure compliance with European legislation. Data that is moved outside the European Union for ‘security and operational purposes’ is pseudonymized.
Opt-out becomes opt-in
Initially, Microsoft wanted to enable flex routing by default for all ‘eligible tenants’ created after March 25. The option is offered to education and enterprise customers in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. This was set to happen on April 17.
Instead of an opt-out system, Microsoft will work with an opt-in. This allows customers to decide for themselves whether to grant permission for data transfer outside the EU or to keep their data on European territory at all times. With flex routing, Microsoft aims to better handle peaks in Copilot usage, something many popular AI tools struggle with.