The lawsuit, filed this week in a US district court in Seattle, is the latest in a suite of showdowns between major tech players and the US government over issues of data privacy and customer security. Microsoft is seeking to block the government from forcing it to turn over the emails and other personal data of its customers stored by Microsoft in the 'cloud' to US law enforcement authorities without their knowledge or permission.
The law in question is the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act which, according to Microsoft, places the company under an unlimited gag order in instances when law enforcement officials demand access to customer data and communications. Further, Microsoft's lawsuit—which names both the DoJ and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch—argues that the law violates the US constitution, citing both its own First Amendment right to free speech and its customers' Fourth Amendment right to know whether the US government has searched or seized their property.
Though the lawsuit does raise issues of civil liberties, it also highlights commercial concerns—specifically, the continued ability of Microsoft to sell Internet-based services that customers feel they can trust.
'It's very important for businesses to know when the government is accessing their file room, whether the file room is down the hall or in the cloud,' commented Microsoft President and CLO Brad Smith. 'People shouldn't lose their rights simply because technology is moving to the cloud.'
Source: Bloomberg BNA
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
