Jennifer Daskal writes:
On Monday, the government will be filing its brief in its case against Microsoft regarding the reach of the government’s warrant authority under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The case, titled In re Warrant to Search Certain E-mail Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation, has important implications for law enforcement’s access to data located outside the United States borders, the government’s ability to protect data stored within our borders from the long-arm reach of other nation’s law enforcement officials, and the bottom line for an array of US-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunication companies. The fact that just about every ISP and telecommunication company (with the exception of Google) has filed amicus briefs on Microsoft’s behalf highlights the significance of the business interest at stake. US-based providers are worried — rightly so — that a ruling in the government’s favor will exacerbate the already-high distrust of American-based companies’ ability to safeguard their customers’ privacy interests.
Read more on Just Security.