A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that Microsoft Corp. won’t be forced to turn over e-mails stored in Ireland to the U.S. government for a drug investigation. Bloomberg reports that the decision might affect data security throughout the U.S. technology industry.
The ruling overturned a 2014 decision ordering Microsoft to hand over messages of a suspected drug trafficker. Bloomberg reported that the company had argued that would create a “’global free-for-all,’ with foreign countries forcing companies to turn over evidence stored in the U.S. ”
The government, for its part, said a ruling in favor of Microsoft would create loophole for fraudsters, hackers and drug traffickers.
The law doesn’t “authorize courts to issue and enforce against U.S.-based service providers warrants for the seizure of customer e-mail content that is stored exclusively on foreign servers,” U.S. federal Appeals Court Judge Susan Carney wrote for the majority of the appeals court serving New York.
To read the Bloomberg article, please hit this link.