14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues its efforts to push for better privacy offered to users with a letter submitted to the Obama administration, asking for a new privacy law in the United States.
As reported by The Age, Redmond is now fighting against some other tech giants on the market, including Google, Amazon, and Twitter, which do not agree with a new privacy law in the country.
Redmond, on the other hand, is now involved in a legal dispute against the United States in order to protect data stored on servers overseas. A federal judge ordered the company last month to provide authorities with access to a data center in Ireland, but offered Microsoft enough time to appeal and continue the lawsuit, as Redmond authorities claim that a US search warrant is only valid in the country.
Now the company is asking the Obama administration to consider a new law that would protect US firms and their customers, especially when involving data centers in non-US locations.
“Without new privacy legislation, U.S. companies will find themselves increasingly disadvantaged compared to foreign providers that will compete against U.S. companies in their home and other jurisdictions based on more protective privacy regimes,” David Heiner, Microsoft's VP and deputy general counsel, legal and corporate affairs, explained in a letter he submitted on August 5 to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
“Over time, absent sound rules of the road, it will likely become harder for U.S. companies to keep the trust of consumers worldwide. Already, some customers for cloud services in foreign markets are turning towards local solutions instead of U.S. providers, precisely because they (and their regulators) do not trust to the sufficiency of U.S. privacy laws.”
Even though some other tech companies do not agree with a new privacy law, Microsoft is not alone in the fight for better privacy. The company says in the letter that “building public confidence in the cloud” is a priority and only a new law that would show customers that their data is fully secure would help in this regard.
“To fully address the protection of consumer privacy in the era of big data, legislative reform must also address how law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and other government agencies access and handle personal information. This is perhaps the biggest challenge to building public confidence in the cloud and other emerging technologies that rely on big data.”
At this point, the main opponent of Microsoft’s proposal is the so-called Internet Association, which has several well-known members, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo, all of which believe that such a law might actually affect the development of new technologies and services.