IT and cloud giant
Microsoft intends to fight the U.S. government over access to its customers' data stored overseas. The corporation is resisting U.S. government requirements to hand over emails that are stored in Ireland, suggesting to do so could harm the United States' cloud computing industry.
The corporation has received broad support (from companies like telecom giant AT&T and the U.S. Civil Liberties Union) for its legal action which aims to have a New York federal appeals court overturn U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska's order that Microsoft must divulge its overseas data.
Microsoft's response to the 2013 warrant (issued during a drugs investigation) is to suggest data stored overseas its outside the jurisdiction of U.S. regulators. The government's response is to suggest that as Microsoft has access to the emails it requires, handing them over would not infringe on Ireland's sovereignty.
Microsoft's legal measures are set against a backdrop of Edward Snowden's accusations that the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) was involved in collecting data from mainstream cloud computing providers such as Amazon. In light of Edward Snowden's allegations, and Judge Preska's order, a number of cloud companies have suggested that although growth in the cloud is generally substantial, the market has seen a drive towards companies storing data with providers operating in their own countries.
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