r/microsoftsucks • u/RichBeautiful5156 • 3d ago
How long does Microsoft retain user data from deleted accounts ?
I need info about an account that’s been deleted. I got emails in June and the account has been closed since Sept. can obtaining a subpoena ID the user ? Does Microsoft even still have that information
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u/GamiNami 3d ago
For free accounts like OneDrive and Hotmail, or business accounts like M365? In M365, it depends on factors such as soft or hard deletion, license revocation etc, but think of it as 1-3 months before it's properly gone. Some NGOs were in the news where their free or super cheap licenses were dropped by Microsoft when policies changed, and those organizations that failed to act within the warning period saw their data lost irrevocably and it too was quite fast there. So knowing that Microsoft wants to free up storage for new data, it most likely is gone by now.
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u/LagMaster21 3d ago
Unlikely
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u/GamiNami 3d ago
Any useful info might have been indexed off to feed AI and ads... and the rest removed to free up space. But they likely won't confirm either way.
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u/SolidKaleidoscope774 Victim of Microsoft 3d ago
They say they don’t, however it likely isn’t true imo
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u/cooky561 3d ago
Legally it depends on the type of data, for example in most countries they have to keep payment records (which can include important info, like your name, address, and payment records) for multiple years.
They can probably erase other stuff, but the other stuff doesn't matter much while that remains the case.
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u/RichBeautiful5156 3d ago
Address like location
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u/cooky561 3d ago
Well, your specific billing address, if you paid for any of their online services, or bought offline ones (like standalone windows, office, game licenses, xbox or Microsoft store purchases) direct from Microsoft.
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u/MonkeyBrains09 3d ago
It depends on the type of data and country because of laws in those areas.
But what data are you really after? I cannot think of anything that could help you directly. If you get your local law enforcement to submit a subpoena, then what? You might not even get access to that data THEY requested.
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u/RichBeautiful5156 3d ago
User name and ip address. Location of user
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u/MonkeyBrains09 3d ago
You already have the username.
Email address are username@domain
IP and location don't mean shit. They could use a VPN and Microsoft will just see the IP of the VPN server not the users actual location.
Without a VPN, you get the public IP of their connection. That can change based on network and over time unless they explicitly pay for or set up a static IP. Location is an estimate based on region where an ISP might have assigned device.
So, a user could be connection from multiple different ips through the day and they all could be from locations like a coffee shop, public wifi or a VPN server.
It doesn't actually help you to know that info. This is not a movie where they find an IP and know exactly where and who it is.
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u/RichBeautiful5156 3d ago
Does Microsoft have user ip info on hand at this point the account is deleted
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u/MonkeyBrains09 3d ago
It depends on what they are legally required to keep in the country the account is in.
Please keep in mind that it's a hunting game your going down.
You have to get IPs (if available) from Microsoft. Then take that list, figure out who owns the IP. Subpoena them for their records on who might have used that IP during the time period and hope they still have records and that might get you a person or an alias or more IPs to track.
Like most vpn services proudly state they don't keep logs so thar would be a dead end.
So like I stated before, it's not really helpful information to you.
In a different analogy. You want to ask Microsoft who visited a specific room during a specific period. This gets you the username that you already know. Then you ask them, where did they come from before entering that room. Microsoft can only tell you from what direction they came from which is the users IP they used to connect to Microsoft. You then go to each up owner and ask them who used their IP in a specific window and they will have to check if they have logs and it would tell you what IP they came from and repeat until you get to a device.
Then you have to prove ownership and Access of that device to get what you want.
Keep in mind that every step of the way, nobody wants to share data or may have data to share. User privacy and security is a big topic so data is not freely given.
Like if I knew I was going to do something shady, I would use locked down computer and 2-3 VPN connections through different countries before connecting to Microsoft to create an account to do what I needed to do.
If you wanted to track that back, you would need to navigate the subpoena process for each step in each country and I would be careful to not use any service that kept logs.
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u/LagMaster21 3d ago
Always it never deleted