Microsoft battles U.S. authorities who want access to foreign-stored data

You can call it Goliath vs. Goliath.

Microsoft is set to face a battle with U.S. authorities who want access to data stored outside of the country. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday on whether the Department of Justice can force U.S. companies to hand over foreign-stored data.

The result will have implications for tech companies that already store data around the world, as privacy advocates and governments once again face-off for the rights of internet users and law enforcement.

The case began in 2013, when the U.S. government issued a warrant ordering Microsoft to hand over the contents of an email account. Authorities suspected it was being used to facilitate drug trafficking, the data of which was stored on a Microsoft server in Dublin, Ireland.

Microsoft refused to hand over the data, arguing that U.S. law (in this case, the Stored Communications Act) doesn't stretch outside of its borders.

The U.S. government argued that it should be allowed access the data, as Microsoft has control of the data within the U.S., and that the tech giant is an American company.

But for Microsoft, allowing the U.S. government to exercise its authority outside of national borders "would instigate a global free-for-all," giving other governments the impetus to respond in kind by seizing data from U.S. computers.

"It’s more likely to be a recipe for international tension and chaos," Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer Brad Smith told reporters, according to Reuters.

In the eyes of U.S. authorities, a win for Microsoft in this case would hamper the ability to act on crimes which cross borders, such as drug trafficking and child pornography. It's worth noting Ireland and the U.S. already have a treaty to exchange emails and other data needed to aid an criminal investigation, but of course, it takes longer for authorities to get it.

The dispute has led to the introduction of a new bill called the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act to Congress last Wednesday, which hopes to establish guidelines and standards when it comes to accessing data across borders.

Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have expressed support for the Act. In a statement, the alliance said it would be "an important step toward enhancing and protecting individual privacy rights, reducing international conflicts of law and keeping us all safer."