Microsoft Battles US Justice Department Over Data ‘Hack’ Disclosures

Paul Allen

Even when the dust has not settled over Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] and FBI’s row over the ‘Bernadino’ iPhone hack, Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT], another tech giant has sued the US Justice Department over its decision to prevent Microsoft from making data request disclosures to its customers.

According to Bloomberg reports, Microsoft holds the view that it is protected by the First Amendment free speech rights and its customers’ Fourth Amendment right to know if the government has searched or seized their property. It therefore believes that it holds the responsibility of letting its customers know that their property ‘data’ is requested for use by another party ‘government’.

Brad Smith. Source: cnbc

“It’s very important for businesses to know when the government is accessing their file room, whether the file room is down the hall or in the cloud. People shouldn’t lose their rights simply because technology is moving to the cloud,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s President of Legal revealed in a statement.

According to complaints filed by the Microsoft today in a U.S. federal court in Seattle, the company believed its trust would be eroded if it gives in to the government back door data request. As a result of the tech giant and other competitor’s movement to cloud computing, the US government has seen their database as a treasure trove they can access under the pretext of national security.

Featured Image source: mspoweruser.com

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