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United States of America v. In the matter of a Warrant to Microsoft, Inc.
In October 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear this case that is being closely watched by major tech firms.
The question is this: can American law enforcement, with a valid warrant, obtain data physically held abroad by an American company? Microsoft argues that no, any data held abroad cannot be touched by an American court order, while the Department of Justice argues that this allows companies to easily defy judicial orders.
This particular case revolves around email held in an Outlook account in Ireland—it is not publicly known what the government hopes would be revealed by acquiring the email, which was sought as part of a drug investigation. Investigators have also not revealed whether the email account owner is American or if that person has been charged with a crime.
American authorities sought this data under the Stored Communications Act. The US government, could, however, use the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process as a way to contact Irish authorities to serve a local warrant upon Microsoft's Irish subsidiary, which controls the data center, to obtain the data. That procedure, which may have already been undertaken, is likely slower than a SCA warrant. However, if the government did go ahead with an MLAT request, it was likely to have been fulfilled during the lengthy process of the judicial appeal.
On December 13, 2017, the Republic of Ireland filed its own amicus brief—supporting neither side—arguing essentially that it would comply with an MLAT request "if and when it be made."
Oral argument has been scheduled for February 27, 2018.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NewNic on Wednesday January 03 2018, @06:38PM (2 children)
No, because this is going to be massively bad for US businesses. Many people in foreign countries with secure data will start insisting that their data is stored locally and entirely controlled by local companies. US companies will be shut out. The other result is that the NSA is going to have a harder time accessing that foreign data.
Since there are alternative ways to get the data, this is a huge mistake by the DOJ. It's going to be counterproductive in the extreme.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @11:41PM
yes, but they are dumb, lazy pigs that just want their job to be easier. they don't care about other agencies, legal precedent or the rights of the people.
(Score: 2) by dry on Thursday January 04 2018, @03:40AM
As a non-American, this sounds like a positive. The Americans have too much power and are a major threat to freedom. Shit, quite a few Americans don't even believe the Bill of Rights applies to non-citizens and American companies routinely infringe on peoples rights.