Law Enforcement Access to Data Abroad May Head to High Court

The government’s decision to keep pursuing Microsoft Corp. in court to release customer emails stored overseas highlights the uncertainty facing U.S. technology and communications companies, privacy attorneys tell Bloomberg BNA.

The Department of Justice June 23 requested that the U.S. Supreme Court review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s ruling that Microsoft need not turn over emails stored in Ireland to law enforcement. Tech companies, such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Yahoo! Inc., routinely receive such law enforcement requests for user data ( United States v. Microsoft Corp., U.S., No. 16A972, cert. filed 6/23/17).

Companies ...