EFF to Supreme Court: Protect the privacy of cross-border data
At the center of the case, the U.S. government is attempting to overturn a Second Circuit decision holding that police cannot use U.S. warrants to compel U.S. Internet companies to disclose users’ email and digital content stored outside the United States. The appellate court reasoned that this extraterritorial application of a U.S. warrant would exceed the process Congress created — the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) — to protect people’s privacy while allowing law enforcement access to emails. The case is titled United States v. Microsoft, and is often called “the Microsoft Ireland case.” EFF joined the ACLU, Brennan Center, Restore the Fourth, and R Street Institute to file the amicus brief with the Supreme Court.
