Do you store your data online? What is the ‘‘CLOUD Act’’
Welcome to my second post, follow me on what i discovered this morning. If you are reading this then you are like me and store some data online. This act not only applies to U.S. citizens but non-U.S. citizens storing their data inside the U.S.
Executive Summary: The CLOUD Act stands for ‘‘Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act.’’ It updates the rules for criminal investigators who want to see emails, documents and other communications stored on the internet. Now law enforcement won't be blocked from accessing someone's Outlook account, for example, just because Microsoft happens to store the user's email on servers in Ireland.
Summary: On Thursday, the House approved the omnibus government spending bill, with the CLOUD Act attached, in a 256-167 vote. The Senate followed up late that night with a 65-32 vote in favor. On Friday, the $1.3 trillion government spending bill,which includes the CLOUD Act, was signed into law. The CLOUD Act stands for ‘‘Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act.’’** https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6ba62ebd-52ca-4cf8-9bd0-818a953448f7/ALB18102%20(1).pdf
It updates the rules for criminal investigators who want to see emails, documents and other communications stored on the internet. Now law enforcement won't be blocked from accessing someone's Outlook account, for example, just because Microsoft happens to store the user's email on servers in Ireland. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/microsoft-ireland-faces-a-data-privacy-battle-in-us-supreme-court-1.3275201
https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-fights-us-warrant-for-customer-data-stored-overseas/
The CLOUD Act offers an alternative to the current process for sharing internet user information between countries, called MLAT, or a mutual legal assistance treaty. Both law enforcement agencies and tech companies say using such a treaty to request data is cumbersome and slow. The fix has the technology sector divided though. Tech companies, such as Microsoft, favor the change. But privacy advocates say it could help foreign governments that abuse human rights by aiding their access to online data about their citizens.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF):
Authorization:
- Enable foreign police to collect and wiretap people's communications from U.S. companies, without obtaining a U.S. warrant.
- Allow foreign nations to demand personal data stored in the United States, without prior review by a judge.
- Allow the U.S. president to enter "executive agreements" that empower police in foreign nations that have weaker privacy laws than the United States to seize data in the United States while ignoring U.S. privacy laws.
- Allow foreign police to collect someone's data without notifying them about it.
Empower U.S. police to grab any data, regardless if it's a U.S. person's or not, no matter where it is stored.
The public debate:
Brad Smith, Microsoft President and chief legal officer, said in a statement Wednesday the bill was "a strong statute and a good compromise," and added that "it gives tech companies like Microsoft the ability to stand up for the privacy rights of our customers around the world."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah who introduced the CLOUD Act, said in February that the bill balances user privacy with the need for an updated framework for giving law enforcement the information it needs. "The CLOUD Act bridges the divide that sometimes exists between law enforcement and the tech sector by giving law enforcement the tools it needs to access data throughout the world while at the same time creating a commonsense framework to encourage international cooperation to resolve conflicts of law," Hatch said.
Privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue that in the US' hunt for criminals located in other countries, it might enter data-sharing agreements with countries known for human rights abuses and allow autocratic regimes easy access to their own citizen's data. Since there's no more need for a foreign law enforcement agency to obtain US warrants or prove probable cause, this opens the door wide open to political abuses.
These data-sharing agreements might be a poisoned pill that could be employed for espionage and intelligence gathering as well. For example, foreign law enforcement could request data from their own citizens engaging in communications with US citizens. Tech companies will then be required to pass over that foreign citizens' entire communications, including his messages exchanged with the US person, potentially exposing details that an intelligence agency will consider valuable.
According to Apple Insider, the passage of the CLOUD Act has various potential implications for Apple users. If they're in a foreign country and use Apple devices or messaging in any type of anti-government manner, the bill is likely not good news for them. That's also the case for those generally distrustful of the present government, future governments, or governments in general.
Further, the bill recognizes foreign law enforcement and allows the US President to sign data-sharing agreements with other countries without congressional oversight. The CLOUD Act will then allow foreign law enforcement to require data on their own citizens stored in the US, also without obtaining a warrant or proving probable cause.
The change in law comes as the US Supreme Court is considering whether US tech companies must hand over user data to law enforcement when it's stored on foreign servers. The case, US v. Microsoft, concerns data that was stored in Ireland, which the company said it couldn't turn over to investigators because it fell outside their jurisdiction. The court heard arguments in the case in February. https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2017/17-2
What are your thoughts on the matter?
~Daywalker
Check out my first post yesterday: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@daywalker1775/my-first-post-01101000-01101001-hi
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Sources:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/responsibility-deflected-cloud-act-passes
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/government/us-congress-passes-cloud-act-hidden-in-budget-spending-bill/
https://www.cnet.com/news/cloud-act-becomes-law-increases-government-access-to-email-internet-microsoft/
https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-fights-us-warrant-for-customer-data-stored-overseas/
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/microsoft-ireland-faces-a-data-privacy-battle-in-us-supreme-court-1.3275201
https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6ba62ebd-52ca-4cf8-9bd0-818a953448f7/ALB18102%20(1).pdf
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2017/17-2