As online privacy becomes a larger issue concerning more users, tech giants are stepping up against the government in an attempt to stop the seizure of data stored overseas. Apple, Cisco, AT&T, and Verizon have now all joined Microsoft in the company's appeal to curb a warrant for an Irish customer.

The question is how much access the government has to data that is stored in the cloud, far away from U.S. jurisdiction — in this case, Ireland. The case at the heart of the matter is the emails of an Irish Microsoft customer.

U.S. magistrate judge James Francis IV issued the warrant last December after it was deemed the emails could be of use in a drug trafficking investigation. Microsoft appealed and lost in April, and is now picking up the legal process again, arguing that complying with the domestic warrant is a breach of international laws.

Microsoft argues that instead of seizing the customer's emails through a warrant, the U.S. government should instead turn to the existing laws for cooperation between the United States and Ireland. The judge, however, refused to yield, implying that almost any data is accessible to the government provided the service provider has access — a rather open-ended interpretation with an easily abusable future:

"A search occurs when information from or about the data is exposed to possible human observation, such as when it appears on a screen, rather than when it is copied by the hard drive or processed by the computer."

Naturally, this has other tech companies that provide cloud services worried. Verizon filed an amicus curiae last Tuesday, and soon Apple and the others followed.

"In rejecting Microsoft's motion to vacate the search warrant, the Magistrate erred by failing to consider the conflicting obligations under foreign and domestic law that arise when courts order providers to produce data about foreign users stored in foreign countries," reads a filing by Apple and Cisco. "By omitting this evaluation — and by dismissing the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty ("MLAT") process out of hand with no factual findings regarding the Irish MLAT at issue — the Magistrate placed the burden of reconciling conflicting international laws squarely on U.S. providers."

Every cloud provider has a reason to worry. Apple has an extensive consumer base and companies like Cisco and AT&T have to worry about its global enterprise customers. If the current ruling against Microsoft stands, there will be a precedent for domestic warrants to have international effects. The real question is how many more will join, and whether it will be enough to convince the courts.

Let us know what you think about whether domestic search warrants should apply to data stored outside of the United States in the comments section below.

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