Microsoft Corporation v. United States

email storage-1Even though Microsoft is a U.S. corporation subject to domestic subpoenas and warrants, prosecutors are not entitled to emails stored on its servers abroad, the Second Circuit ruled last week in Microsoft Corp. v. United States. In a majority opinion by Judge Carney, the Court held that warrants under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) are limited to emails stored on domestic servers. Notably, in a concurring opinion, Judge Lynch urged Congress to reassess the SCA for the purpose of balancing privacy and foreign policy interests against contemporary law enforcement needs.