Microsoft Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Government After Receiving 2,576 Demands to Secretly Access Customer Data in 18 Months

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Posted April 15, 2016 at 9:21pm by iClarified

Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government after receiving over 2,500 requests to secretly access customer data in just 18 months. To make matters worse, the government demanded that Microsoft never tell customers their data was accessed by the government in a majority of cases.

The urgency for action is clear and growing. Over the past 18 months, the U.S. government has required that we maintain secrecy regarding 2,576 legal demands, effectively silencing Microsoft from speaking to customers about warrants or other legal process seeking their data. Notably and even surprisingly, 1,752 of these secrecy orders, or 68 percent of the total, contained no fixed end date at all. This means that we effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data.

Microsoft has attempted to fight many of these requests and the government's demand that it not inform customers. The government, in a recent situation, has tried to have the company held in contempt for resisting its request.

In the past, business servers were usually housed in a building own by the company and the government would need to give notice in order to enter the building. Now that companies are using cloud hosting, the government is using secrecy orders to get the data without the company or persons' knowledge.

This lawsuit comes just a day after it was revealed that Canadian Police have obtained BlackBerry's Global Decryption Key and have been using it for years to secretly access Pin to Pin BBMs.

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Microsoft Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Government After Receiving 2,576 Demands to Secretly Access Customer Data in 18 Months

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Footloose - April 17, 2016 at 5:05am

Your American government does little to inspire confidence in what I believe are a great people. Your government is bombarding organisations for access to information. Again no foul against lawbreakers, provided the interests of the individual is retained until they are proven guilty. This is the law and unfortunately some law breakers may be free because of the secure data. Most guilty persons can be caught using a raft of other forms of evidence, use those. "Beware of loud voices telling you this is for your own good" An observation those governments wanting data will got to extraordinary lengths to achieve their agendas regardless of individuals rights. Take care when considering these issues is all I ask!

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zed cru - April 15, 2016 at 11:20pm

It is often the people with the most to hide the most self righteous people that want to deny the right to free expression and speech It is not your right to side with Gestapo techniques my father fought against totalitarian regimes that touted the the greater good arrest with out due process, is this America does it not have a bill of rights that the actions of the police are in clear violation of Do you remember Watergate? Do know white wash? Larry Flint, and Donald Trump, I do not agree or dis agree but who are you to judge, how many of the orders were against non Americans and worse how many were against Americans KUDOS to APPLE FIGHT THE POWER

Stucky - April 16, 2016 at 12:06am

I agree that the government has no business in people's private matters, but once the law has been broken you relinquish your rights. Where in the constitution does it say you have the right to possess or promote child pornography or that you have the right to conspire to execute thousands of innocent people? The government doesn't care about your naked selfies or your extra marital affairs. I wonder what your opinion of Apple's defiance would be if your child was abducted and the police found the abductor's iPhone. If you'd say that the abductor has a right to privacy and Apple should not assist law enforcement in extracting data from that iPhone - that could identify the abductor and save your child's life - I'd be inclined to believe you were not being truthful.

Stucky - April 16, 2016 at 11:58am

Excellent counter point. You are clearly a scholar. The insight you have shared only leads me to believe that you are destined to be the head of a giant tech company - once you graduate from high school.

Spawntech - April 16, 2016 at 3:33pm

Why all the sudden this is an issue when the government has been looking into our private lives for years?! Tech companies are back firing because it hurts their revenue if they are exposed that their OS is not secured. The issue is the government abusing that power by looking into non-criminal and other countries people lives without a warrant/or out of jurisdiction admitted by the government after the NSA scandal.

Vic - April 15, 2016 at 9:32pm

Just wanted to remind everyone that 9.3.1 is the word iOS ever

myName - April 15, 2016 at 9:35pm

Thanks for the reminder.

curtixman - April 15, 2016 at 9:41pm

The word eh?

gamerscul9870 - April 15, 2016 at 9:53pm

and I just want you to know this has nothing to do with Microsofts problems it is currently dealing with!

Vic - April 15, 2016 at 10:00pm

Curtis, yup, check that stupid autocorrect problem. Which has been worse than ever lol