The Holes in Microsoft’s Data Protection Pledge

Microsoft wants to keep its customers’ data from the prying eyes of US spies and cops. But the company may not be able to honor its pledge.

Data-policy experts said Microsoft, as a US company, is obligated to turn over data demanded lawfully by the National Security Agency or a US law-enforcement agency, no matter whether Microsoft’s computers are in Seattle, Dubai or Taipei. “What matters more than where the data is, is where the system administrators are and who can order them to do things,” said Chris Soghoian, a privacy researcher at the American Civil Liberties Union. “As long as (a company) has a presence, the data is vulnerable.”