"We conclude that Congress did not intend the SCA's warrant provisions to apply extraterritorially," the judges said. SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft on Thursday scored a big victory on a keenly watched privacy battlefront, with a US appeals court exonerating the company for refusing to give police user data stored overseas. The December 2013 warrant directed Microsoft to turn over the contents of an email account used by a suspected drug trafficker. Microsoft welcomed the decision, saying it helped insure people's privacy rights are protected by laws in their own countries. Knowing personal information will be protected by local law is also imperative for people to trust technology companies, Smith reasoned.

Source: Bangkok Post July 14, 2016 19:41 UTC