Microsoft Fights Search Warrants for Overseas Emails in the Supreme Court (microsoft.com)

Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer writes about "the landmark Microsoft case that will decide whether the U.S. government can use a search warrant to force a company to seize a customer's private emails stored in Ireland and import them to the United States." On Thursday, 289 different groups and individuals from 37 countries signed 23 different legal briefs supporting Microsoft's position that Congress never gave law enforcement the power to ignore treaties and breach Ireland's sovereignty in this way. How could it? The government relies on a law that was enacted in 1986, before anyone conceived of cloud computing... When the U.S. government requires a tech company to execute a warrant for emails stored overseas, the provider must search a foreign datacenter and make a copy abroad, and then import that copy to the United States. This creates a complex issue with huge international consequences. It shouldn't be resolved by taking the law to a place it was never intended to go...

The U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to seize foreign customers' emails from other countries ignores borders, treaties and international law, as well as the laws those countries have in place to protect the privacy of their own citizens... It's also a path that will lead to the doorsteps of American homes by putting the privacy of U.S. citizens' emails at risk. If the U.S. government obtains the power to search and seize foreign citizens' private communications physically stored in other countries, it will invite other governments to do the same thing. If we ignore other countries' laws, how can we demand that they respect our laws?
Amicus briefs supporting Microsoft have been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by Ireland, France, and the European Commission and European privacy regulators. Microsoft even notes that on this issue, "Fox News agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union."

Comments

Re: They're going to lose

[Sique]

If the U.S. prosecution has its way, then the E.U. will simply forbid any foreign owned company to operate any data in the E.U.. The High Court of the E.U. already invalidated the "Safe Harbour" agreement with the U.S. because of the way the U.S. handles data of foreigners. In the end, Microsoft Ireland will have to become a separate entity, independent of Microsoft U.S., and only a contract between Microsoft U.S. and Microsoft Ireland will allow Microsoft U.S. access to data stored in Ireland, with an arbiter resident in Ireland deciding case by case if the access is to be permitted or not by handing out a digital certificate granting access and being revoked at any time the arbiter sees fit.

In a case like this, the certificate necessary to access said email would long have been revoked, and only with a formal request to the Attorney General and the Data Protection agency of Ireland, the U.S. prosecution would be able to get a new one granting access to the email they want.