Irish Government files briefing in US in Microsoft email account-access dispute

By Peter O'Dwyer

The Government has filed a formal briefing to a United States Court of Appeal outlining its position with regard to the ongoing legal dispute between the US and Microsoft over access to an email account held in the company’s Dublin data centre.

Data protection minister Dara Murphy today confirmed that the Government had filed an amicus curia briefing note outlining its position in the case.

"The right of individuals to the protection of their personal data is an essential foundation for modern society and the growing digital economy. We must ensure that individuals and organisations can have confidence in the rules and processes that have been put in place to safeguard privacy," he said.

“Ireland and the United States enjoy extraordinarily warm bilateral relations, resulting in excellent cooperation across a broad range of areas, including cooperation in criminal matters, which we value greatly and which are to the common benefit of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.

"We have a mutual legal assistance framework in place for cooperation in criminal matters, which remains the preferred avenue for such cooperation, including for the transfer of data.

“As minister for data protection, I have given detailed consideration, from an Irish perspective, to the issues raised in this complex case.

"Having engaged in detailed consultation with my colleagues in government, it was agreed that Ireland should submit an amicus curiae brief to the US court that focuses on the principles involved in this case and that points to the existing process for mutual assistance in criminal matters.”

Microsoft welcomed the Government’s intervention and commended the minister’s proactive stance on the issue.

Microsoft Ireland managing director Cathriona Hallahan said she believed the brief would send a strong signal to the US Court about the importance placed on the matters in dispute.

“This case has important implications for Ireland and Europe. Minister Dara Murphy has shown significant leadership on this issue from the outset," she said.

"There are a number of critical data protection issues in play at the moment so having a dedicated minister and a newly established department focused on these matters is very important. We welcome the Government’s decision to engage formally in the process by filing an amicus brief. We believe that this step will send a strong signal to the US Court about the importance placed on the matters in dispute.”

A court in New York has recently upheld a warrant issued last December ordering Microsoft to deliver the contents of a customer email account to US law enforcement authorities seeking evidence in a criminal investigation.

Microsoft’s case argues the US government cannot reach across international borders and retrieve a person’s email without respecting local privacy laws.

A number of the world’s largest tech companies including Cisco, eBay and HP filed a similar amicus note in support of Microsoft last week in which they argued that the US Court’s ruling threatens to force companies to choose between complying with a US search warrant or violating foreign laws.

The case is seen as a test case that could have huge ramifications for citizen’s privacy and the future of cloud-based storage. Concerns have also been expressed over the possibility of US multinationals based in Ireland moving some or all of their operations elsewhere in Europe to locations such as Germany, which has stricter data protection laws.

The amicus brief process is one which facilitates an interested party to file its views in a legal case which can then be taken into consideration by the courts.

BreakingNews.ie spoke with Data protection minister Dara Murphy about today's developments

* Audio courtesy of David O'Sullivan