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Technology

Data Sovereignty Disputes in Cross-Border Law Enforcement

Quick fact

In the 2018 case of United States v. Microsoft, the U.S. government demanded Microsoft hand over emails stored on a server in Ireland. Microsoft argued that the data was outside U.S. territorial jurisdiction, and the case, which reached the Supreme Court, was eventually rendered moot by the passage of the CLOUD Act, which gave U.S. law enforcement a new mechanism to compel data disclosure from companies regardless of where the data is stored.

Why this is interesting

When a terrorist uses a messaging app, where does the data 'live'? And which country's law enforcement has the right to demand it? The answer isn't as simple as you'd think—and it's at the heart of a global legal tug-of-war.