US Group: Requiring Private IT Firms to Share User Data Violates Rights

The US government debate on possible requirements for US-based IT companies to share their customers’ data across national borders pointless as the initiative is disrespectful to human rights, head of a US-based pressure group told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — FBI Executive Assistant Director of Science and Technology Amy Hess told Sputnik On Tuesday that the possible policy changes debate was ongoing as such date was useful for law enforcement and national security purposes.

"The FBI's conveniences and desires are not more important than our human rights," President of the Downsize DC Foundation Jim Babka said.

Babka continued saying that the US constitutional standard is "to be secure in our papers, which was the 18th century term for data."

Data collected by US IT companies on domestic users is currently judged to be within the jurisdiction of US law enforcement. The issue of whether users' data collected by a US company is subject to US law regardless of the location, however, is still under consideration.

Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said that the US government must craft a new law to define processes for recovering data held by private American companies in foreign jurisdiction.

"The legislation would establish a rule of law for how law enforcement can obtain data that may beheld abroad," Smith said on Wednesday. "Without enactment of this type of bill, we face the prospect of increasing legal conflicts between governments and the loss of privacy for consumers."

Smith expressed hope Congress would pass the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act (LEADS) to provide the US government with legal authority to obtain electronic data held abroad.

"This would build on judicial trends and the fact that the courts increasingly agree that e-mails deserve the same protections as written letters in the physical world," Smith said. "In short, the need for legal change is real. The stakes for privacy and people are high."

In 2014, a US federal judge ruled that Internet service providers could not refuse a US search warrant requiring them to turn over data stored in other countries. This ruling, however, was was challenged by Microsoft in a June 2014 court filing. The IT giant argued the government’s requirement would "violate the territorial integrity of sovereign nations" and would "reduce the privacy protection of everyone on the planet."