On April 14, 2016, Microsoft filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle challenging the U.S. government’s use of indefinite and overly broad secrecy orders that prevent us from telling customers when the government accesses their data. While there are times when secrecy is necessary, the use of secrecy orders should be the exception, not the rule.
In April of last year, Microsoft sued the United States government for the right to inform customers when authorities are rifling through their emails on Microsoft’s servers. The government was using gag orders in thousands of investigations each year, with no fixed end date for the enforced secrecy.
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Microsoft Corp said it will drop a lawsuit against the U.S. government after the Department of Justice (DOJ) changed data request rules on alerting internet users about agencies accessing their information.
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Microsoft said Monday it will drop a lawsuit against the federal government after the Justice Department agreed to limit its use of "gag orders" to prevent Internet service providers from notifying customers that the government has accessed their information.
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The company argues that court orders for customer data often come with gag orders that Microsoft claims are a violation of customers’ privacy rights. The government contends Microsoft doesn’t have authority to sue on behalf of the customer.
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There were high hopes for transparency from President Obama, a former constitutional law professor who pledged to create “an unprecedented level of openness” in government.
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Dozens of allies threw their weight behind Microsoft on Friday in a case that challenges law enforcement’s use of secrecy orders to cloak its pursuit of digital communications in investigations.
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Scores of technology companies, media enterprises, corporations, organizations and former law-enforcement officials filed briefs Friday in support of Microsoft’s lawsuit against the U.S. government that contends a procedure used by federal investigators to collect digital data is unconstitutional.
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Apple Inc., Google and Amazon.com Inc. were among the tech leaders that rallied behind Microsoft Corp. in its battle to stop the U.S. government from conducting so-called sneak-and-peek searches of customer e-mails.
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Now: a high-profile showdown between a tech giant and the U.S. government over accessing private data.
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Microsoft wants a federal judge in Seattle to strike down a law that allows courts to prohibit a tech company from telling customers that the government has sought their data.
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Big technology companies have usually played a defensive game with government prosecutors in their legal fight over customer information, fighting or bowing to requests for information one case at a time.
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