Thursday, July 31, 2014

Microsoft Takes On Feds Over Email Requests

Microsoft Corp. is taking on the feds, saying that the government's request for email data have gone too far. In an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft Corporate Counsel Brad Smith said that--although it supports the government's efforts in public safety--the government has gone too far, with the Feds arguing that American technology companies should be required to turn over customer emails stored overseas, without notifying those customers. Microsoft said it believes the customer--not the company--owns emails stored in the cloud, and that those emails should have as much privacy as paper letters sent by postal mail. Microsoft said the Fed's efforts could cause other governments to follow, meaning that foreign governments could request the emails of Americans--stored in U.S. data centers--even if those Americans had never set foot in their country.