A US court has banned police and FBI from requiring US companies to access data stored outside the country.
Microsoft won an important case in court that will have implications for the entire US telecommunications industry
Photo: Reuters / Lucy Nicholson
The US Federal Court of Appeals this week issued an important decision : the US government cannot force Microsoft or other companies to provide data to their customers, if this information is stored on servers outside the US. The court decision is about the contents of the email boxes of US telecommunications companies.
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According to experts, this case can be considered as a great success of Microsoft and other telecommunications companies in terms of protecting the personal data of their customers. Consideration of this case began in 2013, when the District Court of New York issued an order to request e-mail messages and other data from a Microsoft client, who allegedly was involved in drug trafficking. The company partially satisfied the request by providing meta-data and other information to law enforcement authorities.
But the company did not provide the electronic messages from the user's box to the authorities. Microsoft stated that since client data is stored on servers physically located in Dublin, Ireland, the warrant is null and void in that country.
In 2014, a federal judge issued a similar order several times, but Microsoft decided to challenge the decision in court, which led to a historic decision.
The decision of the appellate court states that the law of 1986 does not give the court the right to demand that the defendant withdraw the emails of the postal service user located in the USA if the data is stored on servers outside this country.
Microsoft President and General Counsel Brad Smith said the company welcomes a solution that allows users to feel safe while keeping their data intact.
Considerable interest in this legal case was shown not only by technology companies from the United States, but also from other countries. Few people like the opportunity to give access to their data to law enforcement agencies of another country, which has the right to demand information that can be stored anywhere. Microsoft was supported by both companies and individuals. Among those who supported the corporation in the lawsuit are the US Chamber of Commerce, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., CNN, Fox News Network, Gannett Co. and Verizon Communications Inc.
“This could be normal for the Wild West, where there was no clear legislation,” said a senior adviser to the Center for Democracy & Tecnology.
Militiamen did not agree with the results of the case, saying that if such requests were ignored by companies, this would hamper the efforts of the country's law enforcement agencies seeking to maintain order. To this, the judge said that in such cases the investigation should be carried out jointly with law enforcement officers from other countries. The relevant agreements have been signed between the USA and the EU countries, including Ireland. The agreements provide for assistance in investigating cases where access to information stored abroad is required.
Now the US Department of Justice works closely with colleagues from the UK. The partners plan to regulate by law the process of issuing the data of the people being investigated. The corresponding bill was submitted by the US Senate in May. This bill spells out the details of when and how law enforcement agencies can get access to electronic correspondence of US citizens.
The judge who made the decision advised Congress to modernize the law of 1986 so that there is a balance between the needs of law enforcement and the protection of user data.
Photo: Reuters / Lucy Nicholson
The US Federal Court of Appeals this week issued an important decision : the US government cannot force Microsoft or other companies to provide data to their customers, if this information is stored on servers outside the US. The court decision is about the contents of the email boxes of US telecommunications companies.
')
According to experts, this case can be considered as a great success of Microsoft and other telecommunications companies in terms of protecting the personal data of their customers. Consideration of this case began in 2013, when the District Court of New York issued an order to request e-mail messages and other data from a Microsoft client, who allegedly was involved in drug trafficking. The company partially satisfied the request by providing meta-data and other information to law enforcement authorities.
But the company did not provide the electronic messages from the user's box to the authorities. Microsoft stated that since client data is stored on servers physically located in Dublin, Ireland, the warrant is null and void in that country.
In 2014, a federal judge issued a similar order several times, but Microsoft decided to challenge the decision in court, which led to a historic decision.
The decision of the appellate court states that the law of 1986 does not give the court the right to demand that the defendant withdraw the emails of the postal service user located in the USA if the data is stored on servers outside this country.
Microsoft President and General Counsel Brad Smith said the company welcomes a solution that allows users to feel safe while keeping their data intact.
Considerable interest in this legal case was shown not only by technology companies from the United States, but also from other countries. Few people like the opportunity to give access to their data to law enforcement agencies of another country, which has the right to demand information that can be stored anywhere. Microsoft was supported by both companies and individuals. Among those who supported the corporation in the lawsuit are the US Chamber of Commerce, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., CNN, Fox News Network, Gannett Co. and Verizon Communications Inc.
“This could be normal for the Wild West, where there was no clear legislation,” said a senior adviser to the Center for Democracy & Tecnology.
Militiamen did not agree with the results of the case, saying that if such requests were ignored by companies, this would hamper the efforts of the country's law enforcement agencies seeking to maintain order. To this, the judge said that in such cases the investigation should be carried out jointly with law enforcement officers from other countries. The relevant agreements have been signed between the USA and the EU countries, including Ireland. The agreements provide for assistance in investigating cases where access to information stored abroad is required.
Now the US Department of Justice works closely with colleagues from the UK. The partners plan to regulate by law the process of issuing the data of the people being investigated. The corresponding bill was submitted by the US Senate in May. This bill spells out the details of when and how law enforcement agencies can get access to electronic correspondence of US citizens.
The judge who made the decision advised Congress to modernize the law of 1986 so that there is a balance between the needs of law enforcement and the protection of user data.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/396007/
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