Karlin Lillington writes about the significance of Microsoft’s challenge of a warrant for data held in an Irish data centre.
And that is the issue on which the case pivots: is digital data different from “real world” material and subject to fewer protections? Can a nation state demand data held in another state’s territory, circumventing treaties and agreements?
There’s no other Irish element to the case, which involves a US citizen using an email service provided by a US multinational company with operations and data centres in many countries.
However, in a rare move for a nation state, the Irish Government filed a supporting brief in the case. According to the brief, written by former Irish attorney general and minister for justice Michael McDowell, Ireland has never refused an MLAT request from the US in the past.
Read more on Irish Times.