Microsoft vs Cursor

Microsoft's privacy statement covers an enormous product surface — Windows, Office, Azure, Bing, Xbox, and Copilot — and the data practices vary dramatically across them. The umbrella policy is deliberately vague, deferring almost all specifics to product-level documentation. Cross-product data combination, AI model training on your content, and employer/school access to your files and communications are the key risks most consumers don't realise they're accepting.

Cursor collects account data (name, email, payment), device and usage data, and — critically — "Inputs" (code snippets, prompts) and "Suggestions" (AI responses). In Privacy Mode ON, code and prompts are processed in memory only and never persisted; they have zero data retention agreements with OpenAI and Anthropic. In Privacy Mode OFF (default on Free/Pro), this data is stored and may be used to evaluate and improve AI. Cursor does not sell your data or use it for targeted advertising. Business plans default to Privacy Mode on.