CLOUD Act Promotes Surveillance-Data Access Framework

With government access to foreign communications much on the minds of Washington legislators these days--particularly a FISA Act warrant related to a Trump Administration official--a bipartisan group of Congressmen is introducing the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act. Its backers say the act is meant to encourage governments the world over to come up with a "clear" framework for technology companies--like Internet service providers--to follow when governments make cross-border demands for data stored in the cloud. “The CLOUD Act is landmark legislation that addresses an increasingly pressing problem,” said Sen Orrin Hatch (R-UT), one of the sponsors of the Senate version of the bill. “In today’s world of email and cloud computing, where data is stored across the globe, law enforcement and tech companies find themselves encumbered by conflicting data disclosure and privacy laws." A few keys to the bill are bilateral agreements, extraterritoriality of US warrants and international comity, transparency, and reciprocity.