Microsoft has announced that it will apply the “core rights” established under California’s new digital privacy bill to every citizen in the United States regardless of what state they reside in. It’s interesting to see the effect that a large market like California can have when it comes to privacy rights. Similarly to emissions standards for cars, California appears to be raising the privacy standard across the U.S. The new California bill requires companies to clearly disclose the ways they use a customer’s data, the reasons for collecting it, and inform users what parts of it are shared with third parties.