If you are using Facebook, Google or Microsoft you might no
longer be safe from the prying hands of the US government.
A Philadelphia court has re-opened the legal debate on
whether the US has the right to access e-mail stored on foreign
servers if they belong to US companies. The ruling essentially
means anyone using US-based internet companies will have to
live with the knowledge that Uncle Sam is watching you. The
ruling will not only have an impact on privacy but also curb
expansion of tech companies. Last July, Microsoft had won a
case against the US government which upheld its refusal to
hand over e-mails stored on a server in Dublin to investigators
in a drug case. The Philadelphia case will also have repercussions
in Europe which has a ‘privacy shield’ agreement with
the US. Internet companies will resort to legal tricks to protect
their client base, but with the Philadelphia judge ruling that if
a Google employee can access the data on a computer in the
US nothing extraterritorial is taking place, no one is safe. Irrespective
of the new ruling, this case is eventually going to go
to the US Supreme Court which will then have to take a stand
on the issue. A stand against privacy will affect how the world
rends and receives e-mail.
