---
title: "Microsoft Copilot (personal Microsoft account) (Microsoft)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/software/copilot-personal"
type: "software_profile"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "copilot-personal"
vendor: "Microsoft"
category: "General-purpose"
segment: "General-purpose assistants"
confidence: "high"
last_reviewed: "2026-09-21"
---

# Microsoft Copilot (personal Microsoft account) (Microsoft)

> Consumer general-purpose assistant with chat history, optional memory, web search and advertising. Not an organisational Online Service and not covered by the Microsoft DPA.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/software/copilot-personal  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-21

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Plan covered: Updated Copilot app (from 18 August 2026) signed in with a personal Microsoft account on web, desktop or mobile. Older app, Copilot in home Microsoft 365 apps, and Entra work/school accounts need separate review.

## Capabilities

- Document summarisation
- Knowledge search
- Agentic workflows

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Deployment | SaaS |
| Hosting regions | Unknown |
| Australian region | Unknown |
| Model providers | Microsoft |
| Training on customer content | No |
| Retention | Updated app (from 18 August 2026): chat history is retained so chats can be revisited; saved memories are separate and turning memory off does not delete existing memories. Older app FAQ: uploaded files stored no longer than 18 months; conversation activity may be used for model training unless opted out. Export/delete via privacy dashboard. |
| Integrations | Bing, Microsoft Edge, MSN |
| Legal content coverage | Not a licensed primary-law research product. Web search grounds on publicly available web content via Bing. |
| Pricing | Personal Copilot is available without an organisational licence. Without a Microsoft 365 subscription, advertising may appear. Paid Microsoft 365 Premium/Pro home plans are a different SKU and do not convert this into a DPA-covered Online Service. |
| Australian presence | Yes. Microsoft has an Australian commercial presence. Personal Copilot processing location is not stated on the individual-app privacy pages. Do not infer AU residency from Microsoft 365 organisational commitments. |
| Website | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals |

## What the research found

| Topic | Status | Finding | Open question | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Updated personal app versus older app and M365 home | Not confirmed | This profile covers the updated Microsoft Copilot app available from 18 August 2026 when signed in with a personal Microsoft account. The older-app Privacy FAQ still permits conversation activity for model training unless opted out. Copilot inside home Microsoft 365 apps and Entra work/school sign-in have separate documentation. Cowork multi-step tasks and model choice vary by subscription. | Confirm we are on the post-18 August 2026 app, signed in with a personal account only, and that no work files are uploaded. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Consumer cloud; region not published | Not confirmed | The individual-app privacy pages do not name a storage or inference region. Do not carry over Microsoft 365 Advanced Data Residency or EU Data Boundary commitments from the organisational Copilot profile. | Where are personal Copilot chats, files and memories stored and inferred for an Australian user? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| Chat, memory, Cowork, web search, ads | Public claim only | Chat with history; optional saved memories; web search (toggle); shared experiences with Bing/Edge/MSN; advertising if there is no Microsoft 365 subscription; Cowork for multi-step tasks; user can choose among leading models. Feature set varies by subscription. | Which of memory, web search, shared experiences, Cowork and model choice will be on for our testers? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals) |
| US consumer terms; no AU residency commitment | Public claim only | Use is under the Microsoft Services Agreement and Copilot Terms of Use, plus the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Those are consumer contracts, not the organisational DPA. Processing location for personal Copilot is unpublished. Older-app FAQ excludes some countries from training; Australia is not on that exclusion list. | If a lawyer uses personal Copilot on client facts, which country holds the chat and does APP 8 consent cover Bing and ads? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Free consumer product; paid home M365 is separate | Public claim only | Personal Copilot is offered without an organisational seat licence. Advertising may appear without a Microsoft 365 subscription. Home Microsoft 365 Premium/Pro pricing is a different product page and does not create enterprise data protection. | Will anyone in the firm use a paid personal subscription, and is that still a consumer MSA? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Bing, Edge, MSN shared experiences | Public claim only | Shared-experience setting can connect Copilot chats with Bing, Edge and MSN personalisation in both directions. Edge browsing activity has a separate advertising/experiences control. There is no Entra admin plane, Graph grounding or Purview on this plan. | Require shared experiences off if personal Copilot is used at all, and confirm no work mailbox is connected. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Consumer support only | Not confirmed | No organisational Unified/Premier SLA applies to a personal Microsoft account. Support is consumer-grade via Microsoft account help. | Treat personal Copilot as unsupported for client work; do not open firm tickets against it. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| Terms warn responses may not be unique or accurate | Public claim only | Copilot Terms of Use: responses may not be unique; others may receive the same or similar output. No independent hallucination study for the personal app was found. Users are expected to review content they publish. | Ban personal Copilot for client advice, affidavits and court work regardless of subscription. | [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse) |
| Personal productivity only | Not confirmed | Fit for personal drafting and web Q&A. Unfit for confidential client files: consumer MSA, advertising, shared Bing/Edge experiences, unpublished region, and (on the older app) default model training. Cowork can take multi-step actions on the user's machine/files. | Is personal Copilot permitted on any firm device, even for non-client tasks? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Do not put client content in a personal account | Not confirmed | A personal Microsoft account is not a firm tenancy. Uploading client documents or pasting matter facts creates a disclosure to Microsoft as a consumer-service controller, plus optional Bing, ads and (older app) training. No client-disclosure template exists because this is not an authorised firm tool. | Prohibit client content in personal Copilot and say so in the acceptable-use policy. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Microsoft-hosted; user may choose among models | Public claim only | Overview: users can choose between leading AI models depending on subscription. Providers and regions are not named on the individual privacy pages. Do not assume Azure OpenAI organisational terms. | Which models does the updated personal app actually call, and in which country? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| No public consumer subprocessor list | Not confirmed | No dated subprocessor schedule is linked from the individual Copilot privacy articles. Bing search and advertising partners may process conversation-derived content depending on settings. | If personal Copilot is ever allowed, demand the consumer subprocessor list including Bing and ads. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Updated app: no foundation-model training; older app: opt-out | Public claim only | Updated app activity-history page: prompts, responses and file contents are not used to train foundation models. Older-app FAQ: conversation activity, including uploaded files, is used for generative-AI training unless the user opts out or is in an excluded country (Australia is not listed). Do not mix the two statements. | Confirm every user is on the updated app; if anyone is on the older app, require training opt-out before any use. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Optional feedback; not for foundation-model training on the new app | Public claim only | Updated app: optional customer feedback may improve Copilot like other Microsoft 365 services but is not used to train foundation models. The linked feedback process can request additional prompts, responses, content samples and logs. Older app treats conversation activity itself as training data unless opted out. | Disable feedback and do not submit chats that contain work content. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history); [Providing feedback about Microsoft Copilot with Microsoft 365 apps](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/providing-feedback) |
| Chat history plus separate memories | Public claim only | Updated app retains chat history. Saved memories persist until deleted; turning the Saved memories toggle off does not delete existing memories. Older-app FAQ: uploaded files kept no longer than 18 months. No numbered live-chat day count is on the updated activity-history page. | What is the default retention for chats, memories, logs and backups on the updated app? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Per-chat delete; dashboard export; memories separate | Public claim only | Users can delete individual chats and export or delete activity history via the privacy dashboard. Memories must be deleted under Personalization → Manage; off does not equal delete. Previously used training data on the older app cannot be unlearned from a model. | After deleting chats and memories, what remains in backups and advertising/Bing shared-experience stores? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history) |
| Consumer controller; no Lockbox | Not confirmed | Personal Copilot is not Customer Lockbox territory. Terms allow Microsoft to block or remove prompts that violate the Terms. Support access to consumer chats is not described in the individual privacy articles. | Assume Microsoft can access consumer chats under the Privacy Statement; do not put client data there. | [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| Personal Microsoft account only | Public claim only | Sign-in is a personal Microsoft account. There is no Entra Conditional Access, sensitivity labels or admin MFA enforcement for this plan. Anyone with the password can see chat history and memories. | If the firm allows personal Copilot on a device, require a unique personal account never used for work mail. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| Not specified on the individual privacy pages | Not confirmed | Older FAQ says uploaded files are stored securely. TLS/AES and customer-managed keys are not stated on the updated individual privacy articles. Do not infer Microsoft 365 encryption commitments. | If this product were ever approved, demand encryption-in-transit/at-rest evidence for chats and files. | [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| No SOC/ISO claim on the personal-app pages | Not confirmed | The individual Copilot privacy articles do not cite SOC 2 or ISO 27001 for the consumer app. Organisational Copilot certifications do not automatically cover personal accounts. | Do not treat Microsoft 365 Copilot ISO/SOC reports as covering personal Copilot. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| MSA + Copilot Terms of Use; user indemnifies Microsoft | Public claim only | Microsoft Services Agreement and Copilot Terms of Use (personal). Terms do not apply to Entra accounts. User agrees to indemnify Microsoft for use, sharing or publication of prompts, responses or creations. Responses may not be unique. No organisational liability cap or DPA. | Confirm personal Copilot is outside our Microsoft Customer Agreement and must not be used for firm work. | [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| Unpublished destinations; Bing and ads | Not confirmed | No region map. Web search sends queries for public web grounding. Shared experiences and advertising can use conversation content, history and memories. Older-app training may use conversation activity globally except listed excluded countries. | If use is ever permitted, name every country of storage, inference, Bing and advertising. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) |
| Consumer Privacy Statement only | Not confirmed | No 72-hour organisational notification. Breach handling follows the Microsoft Privacy Statement for consumer services, not the Online Services DPA. | Do not rely on personal Copilot for notifiable client data. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) |
| App rewrite 18 August 2026; terms changeable | Public claim only | The 18 August 2026 app change switched training defaults. Consumer terms can change under the MSA. Remaining on the older app keeps the opt-out training model. | How will we detect who is still on the older app after 18 August 2026? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot); [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse) |
| Dashboard delete; memories extra step | Public claim only | Privacy dashboard can export or delete Copilot activity history. Memories need a separate delete-all. Closing the Microsoft account is a further step not detailed on these pages. | What remains after dashboard deletion and account closure, including ads and Bing personalisation stores? | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history); [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Edge import; shared Bing/MSN | Not confirmed | Controls include importing browser data from Edge and One shared experience with Bing/Edge/MSN. Each is a disclosure path from Copilot chats into other Microsoft consumer products. | Keep Edge import and shared experiences off on any device that might see work content. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Web search on by default; user toggle | Public claim only | Copilot can search the web for current public information. Users can turn Web search off under Personalization. Queries are not described as DPA-covered. | If the app is used at all, require web search off unless the task is purely public-web research with no client facts. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) |
| Cowork multi-step tasks | Not confirmed | Overview describes Cowork helping with bigger multi-step tasks and completed to-dos. Terms allow Copilot to offer responses for things the user asked it to remember. No firm approval gate exists. | Disable Cowork/agentic actions on personal Copilot if the firm allows the app on a managed device. | [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview); [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse) |
| User must review before publishing | Public claim only | Terms: user is responsible for use of prompts and responses; indemnifies Microsoft. No in-product lawyer sign-off. Unsuitable as a supervised legal workflow. | Keep personal Copilot out of any workflow that produces client-facing work product. | [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse) |

## Notes

Two privacy regimes: updated app from 18 August 2026 (no foundation-model training) versus older app (training unless opted out). Not covered by the Microsoft Products and Services DPA. Do not infer organisational Copilot residency, encryption or SOC reports. Advertising, Bing shared experiences and Cowork are the main extra disclosure paths.

## Sources

- [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your data and privacy](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/overview) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: privacy controls](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/privacy-controls) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Microsoft Copilot for individuals: activity history](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/activity-history) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Copilot Terms of Use (individuals)](https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot (older app)](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/privacy-faq-for-microsoft-copilot) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Microsoft Copilot for individuals](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals) (checked 2026-09-21)
- [Providing feedback about Microsoft Copilot with Microsoft 365 apps](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/microsoft-copilot/providing-feedback) (checked 2026-09-21)

A product profile is research to support questions. It does not approve a product for any firm. Public product information supports questions; it does not approve a product for your firm. Verify the exact plan, settings and signed terms.