14 DAY TRIAL // The French government continues its investigation in the Charlie Hebdo case and is now pursuing several other suspects that have allegedly been involved in the terrorist attacks, and as part of the investigation, Microsoft was asked to turn over details of two Outlook accounts allegedly used by attackers.
It took only 45 minutes for Microsoft to provide the FBI with access to these two Outlook accounts, Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith said in a speech in Brussels. This is proof that companies and governments can work together, he added, pointing out that there's no problem in disclosing details about a user account when there's a valid judge order.
According to a report by LA Times, Smith revealed the cooperation between Microsoft and the French government in a speech in Brussels, emphasizing that in case security services want to have more control over the online environment, laws that would cover all their requests are mandatory.
Otherwise, it would be really difficult to get access to private information, as tech companies are really keen on protecting users' privacy and would challenge every request in court.
Microsoft involved in lawsuit against the US governments
Back in 2014, Microsoft moved a dispute with the US government to the court, after it was requested to provide access to user data stored on Irish servers.
Microsoft claims that a US warrant should only be valid in the country and not on servers located overseas and decided to fight the request in court.
Smith reiterated during his speech that everything needs to be clearly covered by laws that would perfectly control user data requests, without affecting public safety and personal privacy in any way.
“If those in government want to shift the line between safety and privacy, the appropriate path is to do so by changing the law rather than asking those of us in the private sector to shift this balance ourselves. Democratic societies, not private companies, need to decide on the balances to be struck between public values such as public safety and personal privacy,” he concluded.