Author: Brad Smith

President and Chief Legal Officer

Brad Smith is Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer. Smith plays a key role in representing the company externally and in leading the company’s work on a number of critical issues including privacy, security, accessibility, environmental sustainability and digital inclusion, among others.

Modern digital data laws that balance law enforcement needs with privacy can create a model for the world

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer
Photo of U.S. Capitol and steps leading to it

A consensus is emerging among technology companies, civil society, judges, law enforcement officials and other stakeholders on the need to modernize our country’s antiquated digital data laws. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) – enacted nearly 31 years ago – was written at a time when American industry’s technology, customer base and infrastructure were largely domestic. Congress never contemplated the need to establish rules for law enforcement to access data Read more »

The need for urgent collective action to keep people safe online: Lessons from last week’s cyberattack

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer

Early Friday morning the world experienced the year’s latest cyberattack. Starting first in the United Kingdom and Spain, the malicious “WannaCrypt” software quickly spread globally, blocking customers from their data unless they paid a ransom using Bitcoin. The WannaCrypt exploits used in the attack were drawn from the exploits stolen from the National Security Agency, or NSA, in the United States. That theft was publicly reported earlier this year. A Read more »

Growing consensus on the need for an international treaty on nation state attacks

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer
Photo of part of Earth as seen from space

This week, the Group of 7 (G7) published a declaration recognizing the urgent need to establish international norms for responsible nation state behavior in cyberspace. It’s encouraging to see the commitment of this leading group of nations, but sobering to witness the growing imperative to act. Earlier this year at the RSA Conference in San Francisco I outlined the framework for a Digital Geneva Convention aimed at protecting and defending Read more »

Largest industry-funded research cooperative draws on Cascadia corridor to advance solutions to urban challenges  

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer
Side-by-side photo of the University of British Columbia and the University of Washington

The cities of Vancouver and Seattle share many strengths: a long history of innovation, world-class universities and a region rich in cultural and ethnic diversity. While both cities have achieved great success on their own, leaders from both sides of the border realize that tighter partnership and collaboration, through the creation of a Cascadia Innovation Corridor, will expand economic opportunity and prosperity well beyond what each community can achieve separately. Read more »

The need for a Digital Geneva Convention

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer

This year’s RSA Conference in San Francisco brings the world’s security professionals together to discuss cybersecurity at a critical time.  The past year has witnessed not just the growth of cybercrime, but a proliferation in cyberattacks that is both new and disconcerting.  This has included not only cyber-attacks mounted for financial gain, but new nation-state attacks as well.  As engineers and other employees across the tech sector meet in San Read more »

The need for an exception process under last week’s executive order

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer

Proposal calls for case-by-case exception process for law-abiding visa holders with pressing needs In last Friday’s executive order, the President expressly gave to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security the authority to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the national interest, to issue visas and other immigration benefits. Today Microsoft is filing a formal request asking these cabinet officers to create a process to grant exceptions that Read more »

Next Generation Washington: Our perspective on this year’s state legislative agenda

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer
Legs of many unrecognizable people in a demonstration. View from the ground.

As we begin a new year, lawmakers from across Washington state have been sharing the policy positions they are advocating for during this year’s legislative session.  Increasingly public interest groups have also called for increased transparency by others who “walk the halls” in the state capitol, including companies.  We thought about this and concluded that these groups make a good point; after all, the democratic process benefits from more open Read more »

ABA Resolution 113: Creating a legal profession that reflects the public it serves

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer
Gender and ethnic diversity in an office

Since the United States was founded, the diversity of our nation has continuously grown, a trend that will accelerate in coming years. Unfortunately, the diversity of the legal profession has failed to match this growth. This is why Microsoft has joined legal departments and law firms from across the country to support the American Bar Association (ABA) Resolution 113 and its mission to create a legal profession that better reflects Read more »

With our latest energy deal, Microsoft’s Cheyenne datacenter will now be powered entirely by wind energy, keeping us on course to build a greener, more responsible cloud

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer

Our lives, our cities and our world are rapidly transforming with the rise of cloud technology. And as the adoption of the cloud accelerates, so does the electrical consumption of the datacenters that fuel this new era. At Microsoft, we recognize that our responsibilities as a leading cloud services provider require that we transform the way we power the cloud. That’s why we are announcing our largest wind energy purchases Read more »

Moving forward together: Our thoughts on the US election

- Brad Smith - President and Chief Legal Officer

Like so many people across the country, we woke up in Redmond, Washington this morning thinking about yesterday’s election. And like so many Americans, regardless of who we supported through our vote, we strongly share the view that this is a time for the nation to come together. Every president-elect deserves our congratulations, best wishes and support for the country as a whole. The peaceful transition of power has been Read more »