NYC judge obliges internet providers to disclose foreign emails to US govt — RT USA

NYC judge obliges internet providers to disclose foreign emails to US govt — RT USA:

 A US federal judge in New York has ordered Microsoft to turn over their customers’ emails and other digital content to law enforcement agencies, even in case the data is being stored on servers physically overseas.

New York Magistrate Judge James Francis does not question the cosmopolitan power of a valid search warrant issued by a US law enforcement agency. In a first-of-a-kind court ruling Friday, the judge created a precedent that no US internet provider, be it Microsoft or Google or another company, can refuse an official demand to share foreign clients’ private data, Reuters reported.

The initial search warrant was issued last December in regards of one of Microsoft’s clients who stored his data on a server run in Dublin, Ireland. An undisclosed US agency sought information that could be found in the person’s email, such as the customer's name, credit card numbers or bank account used for payment.

Once Microsoft found out that target’s account was hosted on an Irish server, it refused to comply, pointing out that the US search warrants could not be extended overseas.