Security News > 2021 > July > Microsoft Exec: Targeting of Americans’ Records ‘Routine’

Microsoft Exec: Targeting of Americans’ Records ‘Routine’
2021-07-01 10:28

Federal law enforcement agencies secretly seek the data of Microsoft customers thousands of times a year, according to congressional testimony Wednesday by a senior executive at the technology company.

"Most shocking is just how routine secrecy orders have become when law enforcement targets an American's email, text messages or other sensitive data stored in the cloud," said Burt, describing the widespread clandestine surveillance as a major shift from historical norms.

The relationship between law enforcement and Big Tech has attracted fresh scrutiny in recent weeks with the revelation that Trump-era Justice Department prosecutors obtained as part of leak investigations phone records belonging not only to journalists but also to members of Congress and their staffers.

Microsoft was among the companies that turned over records under a court order, and because of a gag order, had to then wait more than two years before disclosing it.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, called for an end to the overuse of secret gag orders, arguing in a Washington Post opinion piece that "Prosecutors too often are exploiting technology to abuse our fundamental freedoms." Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Justice Department will abandon its practice of seizing reporter records and will formalize that stance soon.

Just this week, he said, prosecutors sought a blanket gag order affecting the government of a major U.S. city for a Microsoft data request targeting a single employee there.


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