Hey — welcome to Drift Intel.
Every week, StackDrift's monitoring system scans the Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, and Pricing pages of the vendors you depend on. When something changes, we break it down so that you’re aware and can make changes.
This week: Azure Quietly Expanded Ad Data Sharing AND VS Code is included too
Let's get into it.
🟡 Microsoft Wants Your Data for Ads (Azure + VS Code)
Microsoft quietly updated their privacy terms across multiple products. The Trade Desk is now part of their ad data sharing network, and your data-driven ads can appear on third-party sites beyond Microsoft properties.
Azure: If you're running Azure services for clients in regulated industries (healthcare, finance), this expanded data sharing could trigger compliance reviews or awkward questions about where their data flows.
VS Code: If you're signed into your Microsoft account while coding, your usage telemetry may now be shared with additional advertising partners. Yes, really.
What to do:
Azure users: Review your privacy policy to ensure it covers Microsoft's expanded data sharing — especially if you're passing customer data through their services
VS Code users: Check your privacy settings, consider coding without signing in, or switch to VSCodium (the telemetry-free open-source fork)
Bottom line: Two products, same drift. Microsoft is broadening their ad network reach, and if you're not paying attention, your workflow data is part of the package.
The Takeaway
Vendors change the rules constantly. Most of the time it's formatting and typos. But sometimes it's a jurisdiction shift that halves your liability protection, or a data policy change that creates a compliance gap you didn't know you had. The possibilities are endless.
That's why we built StackDrift — so you catch these before they catch you.
Want the full breakdown? Sign up and get severity-scored monitoring across your entire vendor stack.
Found this useful? Forward it to a founder who's too busy to read TOS (so... every founder). Got a vendor you want us to track? let us know
Trish @ StackDrift
