LEGAL/SUPREME COURT: “European lawmakers and companies worry that a lawsuit the U.S. government has brought to the Supreme Court could clash with European Union law, trapping tech companies between complying with U.S. data requests and strict EU data-privacy rules.
The case, set to be heard next month, stems from a dispute between the Justice Department and Microsoft Corp. over access to emails stored on a server in Ireland. Industry officials say it highlights the stark differences between the U.S. and Europe over views on online privacy and the extent of government access to users’ data.
The U.S. government in 2013 obtained a search warrant requiring Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft to hand over email information as part of an investigation into a customer who allegedly was using the account to conduct criminal drug activity.
Microsoft complied with part of the order but rebuffed the request to turn over the email messages, which were stored abroad, arguing that U.S. search warrants don’t reach data stored outside domestic borders. Microsoft argues that complying with the warrant would have meant the company could have run afoul of EU privacy rules.
At issue in the court case are broader questions about who should govern global internet companies, and how. In particular, cloud computing companies, such as Microsoft or Amazon.com Inc., can move data among different servers around the world.”
-Natalia Drozdiak, “Data Case in U.S. Sparks Concern in Europe,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 18, 2018 05:41pm