Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has reduced the storage space for OneDrive and Outlook email for students at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The changes, prompted by security risks and sustainability concerns, will be implemented starting May 31, 2024.

What Happened: According to an announcement on McGill University’s website, the Satya Nadella-led company is making amendments to its Microsoft 365 Education suite that will restrict storage space.

Starting May 31, 2024, students will be limited to 20GB of OneDrive storage space and 20GB of Outlook email storage.

If storage exceeds 20GB after May 31, students will not be able to store new files or send/receive emails until they have reduced their storage below the limit.

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The decision to reduce storage is attributed to security risks linked with large volumes of potentially forgotten confidential or sensitive information. The financial and environmental implications of maintaining unused files in student accounts were also considered in this decision.

Sustainability factors also drive Microsoft’s decision. Unused files stored on OneDrive cloud servers globally contribute to a substantial carbon footprint due to the electrical energy required to keep them accessible and secure.

“Consideration must also be given for the financial and environmental cost of maintaining the space allocated for unused files in student’s accounts,” the University said in its announcement.

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An article by MIT pointed out that cloud computing and storage now have a larger carbon footprint than the airline industry. A single data center can consume electricity equivalent to 50,000 homes.

However, according to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research rules, students are required to retain their original data sets for a minimum of 5 years.

McGill University recommends students to look for alternative storage solutions in case they hit the 20GB limit, asking them to refer to guidelines in case students use a non-McGill-approved storage platform.

Why It Matters: Microsoft’s decision to reduce storage space comes after a similar plan to impose storage limits for photos in OneDrive accounts of regular users was canceled in October 2023, following backlash from customers.

The now-revoked policy would have counted photos in a user's saved photo albums and OneDrive Gallery against its cloud-based quota of five gigabytes.

The latest decision affecting McGill University students seems to be a continuation of Microsoft’s efforts to manage storage limits and reduce environmental impact.

Benzinga has written to Microsoft for a comment. We will update this story as and when we receive a response.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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