US cannot seize data on foreign servers, court rules

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – The U.S. cannot compel Microsoft or any other technology company to hand over emails or consumer data stored on servers overseas, a federal court ruled Thursday.

Siding with Microsoft in the landmark case, all three judges on 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dealt a defeat to the Justice Department that attempted to secure information stored at Microsoft’s data center in Ireland.

The government attempted to force Microsoft to hand over the data using a 1986 federal law called the Stored Communications Act (SCA).

“Congress did not intend the SCA's warrant provisions to apply extraterritorially,” wrote Circuit Judge Susan Carney in the court’s unanimous decision. “The focus of those provisions is protection of a user's privacy interests.”

In an announcement trumpeting the ruling, Microsoft laid much of the blame on Congress’ inability to update the 30-year-old law.

“We’re confident that the technology sector will continue to roll up its sleeves to work with people in government in a constructive way,” wrote Brad Smith, the company’s president and chief legal officer. “We hope that today’s decision will bring an impetus for faster government action so that both privacy and law enforcement needs can advance in a manner that respects people’s rights and laws around the world.”

The legal battle dates to 2013, when law enforcement demanded information from Microsoft that was stored on servers in Dublin, Ireland, for a narcotics case in the U.S.

The government argued that because Microsoft was a U.S. company and had easy access to the data, the fact that the data was technically stored overseas didn’t matter.

“Lawfully accessing information stored by American providers outside the United States quickly enough to act on evolving criminal or national security threats that impact public safety is crucial to fulfilling our mission to protect citizens and obtain justice for victims of crime,” Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement following the ruling.

The government could appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.