Tech companies fight Justice Department over access to data
Apple, Google and Microsoft want to reassure customers that they are fighting the U.S. government’s access to data, resulting in conflicts with the U.S. Justice Department.
The New York Times has a report that says the conflicts “reflect heightened corporate resistance, in the post-Edward J. Snowden era.”
In one case, Apple told the Justice Department it could not comply with a court order requiring it to turn over real-time messages between suspects using iPhones. Apple said its iMessage system was encrypted and it couldn’t turn over the messages, which are encrypted and decrypted at either end of the conversation. No copies are kept by Apple unless users load their messages to the iCloud. The company eventually turned over some messages stored in the iCloud, according to the Times report.
In another case slated for oral arguments on Wednesday, Microsoft is fighting a Justice Department attempt to force the company to comply with a warrant for a suspect’s emails stored on a server in Ireland. The government contends Microsoft has to comply because it owns the data. Microsoft says the data can’t be turned over because it is protected by European privacy laws, according to Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) coverage.
The case is pending before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
