Apple, eBay, Verizon back Microsoft in fight against US government over data demand

While they might be rivals when it comes to customer dollars, a handful of Microsoft’s competitors have agreed to back the tech giant in the courtroom, as it engages in a fight with the US government over demands for access to user data stored overseas.

A year ago, US prosecutors issued a warrant for emails stored by Microsoft in a data center located in Ireland (image above). Their reason was that the emails contained within them important information having to do with a drug-related investigation.

Microsoft refused to comply, and so the issue was taken to court. By July, the company was ordered by a judge to hand over the information. 

But instead of handing over the keys to the data center, the company has instead filed letters of support from a large number of allies. Included on this list of who’s-who from the technology sector: Amazon, Apple, Cisco, eBay, HP, and Verizon, along with the US Chamber of Commerce and Digital Rights Ireland.

Among the news organizations backing Microsoft: CNN, the Guardian , and the Washington Post .

And from the education sector, computer scientists from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT have agreed to lend their institution’s names in support of Microsoft. 

The main argument that the group is trying to make is that the Dublin-based data center is outside US jurisdiction; the prosecutors counter that the information within the data center is accessible from within the US, and so where the center is physically located is irrelevant. 

“We believe that when one government wants to obtain email that is stored in another country, it needs to do so in a manner that respects existing domestic and international laws,” wrote Microsoft's Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs, in a blog post. “In contrast, the US government's unilateral use of a search warrant to reach email in another country puts both fundamental privacy rights and cordial international relations at risk.”

It’s a fascinating argument about technology, privacy, and government reach — where do you stand? Let us know in the comments section below.

Via BBC