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Microsoft Email Privacy Case No Longer Needed, Says The US (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader quotes CNN:
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to abandon its case against Microsoft over international data privacy. A new law signed by President Donald Trump last week answers the legal question at the heart of Microsoft's case, the DOJ says. So the case "is now moot," the department said in a court filing posted Saturday.
Microsoft's legal battle began in 2013, when it refused to hand over emails stored on a server in Ireland to US officials who were investigating drug trafficking. Microsoft argued at the time that sharing data stored abroad could violate international treaties and policies, and there was no law on the books to provide any clarity. That changed with the The Cloud Act, which was tucked into the spending bill that Trump signed March 23. The act establishes a legal pathway for the United States to form agreements with other nations that make it easier for law enforcement to collect data stored on foreign soil... Microsoft cheered the new law, saying the Cloud Act provides the legal clarity the company sought.
The ACLU's legislative counsel argues that the new act hurts privacy and human rights, "at a time when human rights activists, dissidents and journalists around the world face unprecedented attacks."
"Would even a well-intentioned technology company, particularly a small one, have the expertise and resources to competently assess the risk that a foreign order may pose to a particular human rights activist?"
Microsoft's legal battle began in 2013, when it refused to hand over emails stored on a server in Ireland to US officials who were investigating drug trafficking. Microsoft argued at the time that sharing data stored abroad could violate international treaties and policies, and there was no law on the books to provide any clarity. That changed with the The Cloud Act, which was tucked into the spending bill that Trump signed March 23. The act establishes a legal pathway for the United States to form agreements with other nations that make it easier for law enforcement to collect data stored on foreign soil... Microsoft cheered the new law, saying the Cloud Act provides the legal clarity the company sought.
The ACLU's legislative counsel argues that the new act hurts privacy and human rights, "at a time when human rights activists, dissidents and journalists around the world face unprecedented attacks."
"Would even a well-intentioned technology company, particularly a small one, have the expertise and resources to competently assess the risk that a foreign order may pose to a particular human rights activist?"
The Cloud Act was introduced as an attachment to the 2018 spending bill by Rep. Doug Collins [R-GA-9] on 2-6-2018. It was approved by the Judiciary Rules Committee on a party-line vote. As in, only the Republicans on the committee voted for it.
Just thought you ought to know.
You are welcome on my lawn.
No, the law specifically requires them to reach international agreements with those countries, it doesn't override their laws at all. For a change the law seems half way sensible.
God damn you are a fucking idiot deflecting things as badly as the Russian trolls/Ivans around here! Guess who actually added the rider which is disputed here? Rep. Collins, Doug [R-GA-9]" - an exclusively conservative Republican from Georgia. Pointing out who and especially which party is genuinely responsive for an instance of rights violations is crucial for acting against it in a way that politicians actually feel and fear.