Top Court to Hear Microsoft Warrant Case -- WSJ
October 17 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Brent Kendall
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (October 17, 2017).
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide
whether email providers have to comply with search warrants seeking
customer messages if the material is stored outside the U.S., the
latest clash between technology companies and the government over
access to private data.
The case, which centers on a battle between the federal
government and Microsoft Corp., is part of a broader tussle between
tech firms and law enforcement over consumers' digital information.
It also comes at a time with the high court is becoming more active
in considering privacy rights and public safety in the digital
age.
The new case adds to a blockbuster docket in which the justices
already were preparing to hear a separate case on whether
authorities need search warrants for data showing the location of
cellphone users.
In the email case, the government in 2013 applied for a search
warrant requiring Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft to turn over email
information for a customer who allegedly was using the account to
conduct criminal drug activity. A magistrate judge issued the
warrant.
Microsoft handed over some account-identification information
that was stored in its facilities in the U.S., but it declined to
turn over actual email messages, which it said were stored at a
data center in Ireland. The company argued that U.S. search
warrants don't reach data stored outside domestic borders.
The case made its way to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in New York, where a three-judge panel dealt a blow to the
Justice Department by ruling for Microsoft last year. The court
held that U.S. law doesn't authorize courts to enforce search
warrants against U.S.-based companies for emails that reside on
foreign computer servers.
The Supreme Court will review that ruling. The case likely will
be argued in early 2018, with a decision expected by the end of
next June.
The Justice Department appealed the case to the high court,
saying the lower court decision has produced ripple effects, with
Google and other technology companies putting up resistance similar
to Microsoft's.
"Under this opinion, hundreds if not thousands of investigations
of crimes -- ranging from terrorism, to child pornography, to fraud
-- are being or will be hampered by the government's inability to
obtain electronic evidence," the department said in a court
brief.
A group of 33 states filed a separate brief supporting the
Justice Department, saying the lower court decision also was
interfering with local and state law enforcement
investigations.
Microsoft said that if changes need to be made to the law, those
should come from Congress, which could balance the needs of law
enforcement with the needs of technology companies.
If the U.S. can seek this overseas data, it can place companies
in a difficult spot when trying to comply with foreign privacy
laws, Microsoft said in court papers. It also said that, given
customers' concerns about their privacy rights, granting law
enforcement authorities the broad power to obtain data stored
overseas "would hamstring U.S. companies' ability to compete in the
multi-billion dollar cloud-computing industry."
Law enforcement access to data stored overseas is just one of
several major issues that currently pit the government against U.S.
tech firms.
On another front, a top Justice Department official last week
signaled the government plans a more aggressive posture in seeking
access to encrypted information from tech companies. Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said negotiations with tech firms
haven't worked.
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 17, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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