[Infowarrior] - MS response to USG overseas data search warrant idea

[Richard Forno]

Our legal challenge to a US government search warrant

Posted April 9, 2015 by Brad Smith
General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft

Last evening, we filed our reply brief in our ongoing legal challenge to the U.S. government’s attempt to force us to turn over a customer’s email stored in our Irish data center. As we stated in our brief, we believe the law is on the side of privacy in this case.

We were gratified by the large number of organizations and individuals that filed amicus briefs in this case in December. They include leading technology and media companies, expert computer scientists, and trade associations and advocacy organizations that together represent millions of members on both sides of the Atlantic. As we said then, this case involves a broad policy issue that is important to the future of cloud computing.

In a nutshell, this case is about how we best protect privacy, ensure that governments keep people safe, and respect national sovereignty while preserving the global nature of the internet.

While there are many areas where we disagree with the government, we both agree that outdated electronic privacy laws need to be modernized. The statute in this case, the Electronics Communications Privacy Act, is almost 30 years old. That’s an eternity in the era of information technology.

In the U.S. we believe there is an important debate to be held about the best way to reform the law and our international relationships, and there are critical policy considerations on both sides. Law enforcement needs to be able to do its job, but it needs to do it in a way that respects fundamental rights, including the personal privacy of people around the world and the sovereignty of other nations. We hope the U.S. government will work with Congress and with other governments to reform the laws, rather than simply seek to reinterpret them, which risks happening in this case.

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http://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2015/04/09/our-legal-challenge-to-a-us-government-search-warrant/

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