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.
