Microsoft President and Chief Legal OfficerBrad Smith speaks during the Microsoft Annual Shareholders meeting. (Photo : Getty Images/Stephen Brashear)
Microsoft filed a suit on April 14, Thursday against the Department of Justice, asking the court to declare unconstitutional a section of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Apple's battle with the government about user privacy policy over the iPhone of one of the suspects in the San Bernardo shooting flooded the headlines. Now, it is the Windows software maker's turn to complain to the government regarding user privacy.
The Redmond-based company points to section 2705(b), which allows the government to order an electronic communications service provider not to reveal that a person's communication have been accessed for a period of time. The law does not give the government complete freedom to spy on citizens. However, they can, when a person's physical safety or life is endangered, or there is evidence tampering, intimidation of potential witnesses, flight from prosecution, an investigation is seriously jeopardized or when a trial is being unduly delayed.
Microsoft feels the government makes use of these orders so its spying practices need not be justified. Secondly, the government asks for thousands of information yearly without providing an end date.
Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith stated that the U.S. government required them not to disclose to customers its 2,576 legal demands that seeks their data. "Even surprisingly, 1,752 of these secrecy orders, or 68 percent of the total, contained no fixed end date at all. This means that we effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data." Smith stated on their company's blogs.
Microsoft does not intend to forbid the government to access data in exceptional cases, but said the privacy act's aforementioned section gives it too much power and unlimited surveillance, ExtremeTech has learned. It does not require justification of government's actions and does not allow a review of their surveillance order when circumstances change. The software titan claims Section 2705(b) also violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable seizure and search of digital information. The amendment likewise includes people's rights to know when authorities are searching their property.
Microsoft raises these issues since Congress has shown willingness to address privacy issues to digital records. Under the U.S. law, the government does not need a warrant, but a simple subpoena to read emails more than six months old.
While the Email Privacy Act does not address Microsoft's current concerns, it can perhaps signal a renewed willingness by the lawmakers to deal with some privacy issues regarding mass surveillance of Americans now that consumers are sharing their lives with cloud providers.
The video by Euronews below talks about Microsoft's lawsuit against the state.
