Tag: USA vs. Microsoft

United States vs. Microsoft II

4. April 2018

In the USA, the “Cloud Act” (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) came into force a few days ago with the signature of President Trump.

The Cloud Act stipulates that US investigators should have access to personal data located on servers outside the USA. To this end, bilateral agreements may be concluded authorizing investigators to contact the cloud provider directly.

As part of this, the US Department of Justice filed an application with the US Supreme Court to declare United States of America vs. Microsoft Corporation (New York Search Warrant Case) closed. The case dates from 2013 and has been highly controversial ever since.

The question is whether Microsoft must disclose personal data stored outside the US, here on servers in Ireland, to US authorities. The basis for this was a search warrant issued by a federal district court in New York, which was intended to oblige Microsoft to hand the data over. Microsoft complained about this. A ruling was actually expected in June of this year, but now the matter could be filed before a decision is taken.

Noel J. Francisco, the US government’s chief litigant, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, citing the Cloud Act, arguing that the Microsoft-US dispute is over and no longer needs to be heard. A new search warrant based on the Cloud Act has already been sent to Microsoft.