CDT – “A critical case is now working its way through the US courts—one that raises important questions for users and providers of cloud services in both the US and Europe. As part of a US criminal investigation, a US federal court has ordered Microsoft to hand over a customer’s files that the company holds in its Ireland data centre. Microsoft has refused to comply with this order, arguing among other things that a warrant issued by a US court is not sufficient to reach content stored outside US territory, and that the US government must obtain the assistance of the Irish authorities. The crucial question here is: what rules apply when one country demands that a service provider with a physical presence on its territory give its authorities access to communications stored in another country? Because larger policy questions are at stake, CDT and other public interest groups are filing briefs in the case on 15 December. And recently, Dara Murphy, the Irish Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection, asked the European Commission to file its observations. The Commission is now considering adding its voice to the conversation. CDT believes that the European Commission’s views would be helpful in shaping the outcome.”