The United States has gained more power over the Internet with the help of a federal judge. Under a recent ruling, internet service providers are now required to hand over customer emails and other digital content that the U.S. government requests through a subpoena, even when the information is stored overseas.
Essentially, the United States can now individually bypass laws passed by governments worldwide and any efforts to safeguard information from the prying eyes of the NSA by storing the data outside the United States.
US Judge James Frances in New York ruled that internet service providers such as Google or Microsoft must hand over customer information requested by the government, along with any messages stored in data centres outside the United States.
The reasoning behind this decision is that it would take too long for U.S. agencies to coordinate efforts with foreign governments to collect the desired data, which would significantly burden the government. “There would be obstruction of law enforcement efforts,” the judge said.
Let us also recall the current international debate on privacy, following the huge revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden about the NSA's efforts to collect vast amounts of customer data from around the world.
Companies like Google and Microsoft have data centers in many countries around the world. Until now, this meant that the United States government could not easily access the data stored in these locations, and therefore many were happy with the extra layer of security.
The details of the warrant, as well as which agency issued it, remain secret, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't even matter. What does matter, though, is the fact that the United States is trying to use established companies to gain access to personal data that they shouldn't have access to under normal circumstances.
