United States vs. Microsoft

The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) heared yesterday the arguments in the case United States vs. Microsoft.

The dispute betwenn the US government and Microsoft has spanned several years, since 2013, and has major implications for the privacy profession.

Issue is, that the U.S. can compel Microsoft to turn over data stored on a server outside the United States. Basis of the the obligation is a warrant issued by a US court under the Stored Communications Act. Microsoft should turn over emails of a customer stored on Microsoft servers, both in the US and in Ireland. Microsoft handed out the data stored in the US, but reject to turn over the data stored in Ireland. Basis for the rejection is, according to the position of Microsoft, that a Irish court is responsible and not a US court, due to the Stored Communications Act cannot reach outside of the territorial jurisdiction of the US. The US position, adopted by the magistrate judge and district court is, that because Microsoft is a US company, and fully capable of accessing the information described in the warrant, the warrant is a valid exercise of wholly domestic power.

A judgement could be made in June.