{"id":323,"date":"2017-12-15T20:13:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T20:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=323"},"modified":"2017-12-15T21:05:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T21:05:15","slug":"look-european-commissions-amicus-brief-united-states-v-microsoft-corp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/look-european-commissions-amicus-brief-united-states-v-microsoft-corp\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look at the European Commission\u2019s Amicus Brief in United States v. Microsoft Corp \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

On December 13, 2017, the European Commission filed an amicus brief in the United States v. Microsoft Corp <\/em>case set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2018 term. The case concerns<\/a> the U.S. Justice Department’s access to an individual\u2019s private emails stored at Microsoft\u2019s Dublin data center. In December 2013, the DOJ served Microsoft a warrant compelling it to disclose the private communications of an individual the government had reason to believe was engaged in criminal drug activity. \u00a0When Microsoft turned over the account information stored on its U.S. servers, but refused to disclose the information stored at its Dublin center, the legal battle ensued.<\/p>\n

At Issue: The Extraterritorial Application of the Stored Communications Act\u2019s Warrant Provisions<\/em><\/p>\n

The Stored Communications Act (SCA) \u2013 which is part of the broader Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 \u2013 allows the government to require that an electronic communications provider disclose information about a particular communication upon being served a probable-cause-based warrant. \u00a0At issue in this case is whether the warrant provisions of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) apply extraterritorially, such that they compel Microsoft, an electronic service provider, to produce private electronic communications stored on servers in Ireland for the United States government.<\/p>\n

The European Commission\u2019s Brief <\/em><\/p>\n

While the Commission stresses that the EU takes \u201cno position on the ultimate question of the Stored Communication Act\u2019s proper construction under U.S. law,\u201d it nevertheless implores\u00a0 that the Supreme Court consider EU data protection laws, particularly the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set to go into effect in May 2018, when making its decision. The Commission argues that the GDPR applies in this case because the actions Microsoft must take to fully comply with the Justice Department\u2019s warrant constitutes data \u201cprocessing\u201d to and from the European Union.<\/p>\n

Chapter 5 of the GDPR explicitly addresses the transfer of data from the EU to a non-member state. \u00a0The GDPR specifies two main circumstances under which personal data may be transferred from the European Union to a non-member state:<\/p>\n