Microsoft is taking a step that other tech companies seem hesitant to take. The company has decided to move data belonging to its foreign customers to servers outside the United States, if they choose, in the wake of the NSA scandal.
Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, says the move is necessary in light of the information revealed by Edward Snowden's files about the NSA's surveillance practices.
“People should be able to know if their data is subject to the laws and access of another country’s governments and should be able to consciously choose where it resides.”
Smith told the Financial Times .
Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of Microsoft's existing data centers around the world.
This is a particularly important step from a company as large as Microsoft, especially given the current international context. Citizens around the world have expressed their displeasure with the United States' for their right to privacy, international commissions have begun analyzing the harms of the Internet, and world leaders have criticized the US for spying on them.
At the same time, the White House announced a series of reforms to the NSA, which the president unveiled last week. However, the reforms will not change things much.
Let's hope that Microsoft's example will be followed by other large companies, such as perhaps Google, Facebook, etc., which have already criticized the United States government for letting the NSA spy on the whole world.
