The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently shot down the latest effort by the Justice Department to compel Microsoft to hand over the data of a foreigner stored overseas. Amazingly, the government asserted that a U.S. search warrant should carry jurisdiction over the data of an Irish citizen being stored on a server in Ireland simply because it is owned by Microsoft, an American corporation.
Thank goodness the federal appeals court has now rejected the government’s attempt to have the case reheard after a lower court ruling in the government’s favor—which held Microsoft in contempt for failing to turn over the data—was overturned last July.
The outcome affirms a landmark defense of privacy rights against law enforcement overreach and clearly establishes that the U.S. government does not have jurisdiction over the entire world. It also removes a major threat to the competitiveness of U.S.-based multinational companies, which must operate under the privacy rules of the countries in which they operate. Many of those countries unsurprisingly take a dim view of U.S. government efforts to pry into the lives of their citizens. To comply with the U.S. government warrant, Microsoft would have had to violate Ireland’s privacy laws.
The decision to reject the government’s appeal for a rehearing was decided by a 4-4 split, much closer than it should have been. Justice Department officials pledged to try to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
The new administration could insist that Justice Department lawyers drop the matter. Members of Congress, however, shouldn’t count on either the courts or the Trump administration. Instead, they could address the fundamental issue, writes Veronique de Rugy.
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