U.S. CONGRESS QUIETLY PASS CLOUD ACT TO INCREASE GOVERNMENT ACCESS TO ONLINE INFO
The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act was passed along with the federal spending bill on Friday, March 23rd, 2018. The act allows law enforcement agencies to demand access to online information from any country in the world.
The CLOUD Act was introduced by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, with the support of both Republican and Democratic Senators. It allows law enforcement agencies an easier route to access users electronic data such as emails, messages, and files, even if it’s stored on servers in another country. The act also creates a framework for U.S lawmakers to send information from U.S based servers to other countries on a case-by-case basis.
Hatch states:
The CLOUD Act bridges the divide that sometimes exists between law enforcement and the tech sector by giving law enforcement the tools it needs to access data throughout the world while at the same time creating a commonsense framework to encourage international cooperation to resolve conflicts of law.
Bitcoin and Digital Rights Experts Express Concerns Over PrivacySome, including influential speaker and author of Mastering Bitcoin, Andreas Antonopoulos, have criticized how the act was passed without debate and the act’s implications for privacy.
Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) believe the act bypasses the Fourth Amendment which demands that “probable cause”, translating as a high level of suspicion, is required for any investigation. The EFF also argues the act could result in the U.S giving individuals’ data to law enforcement agencies in countries known for abusing the rights of their citizens.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the law:
Threatens human rights, jeopardizes the Fourth Amendment interests of individuals inside the US, and provides an alarming level of discretion to the executive branch at the expense of congressional authority.
Technology companies storing data will have the opportunity to refuse to share user data if they feel requests are not part of a legitimate criminal investigation. Instead, asking for the current legal solution process, a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT), to be followed.
Read more: http://bitcoinist.com/u-s-congress-quietly-pass-cloud-act-to-increase-government-access-to-online-info/
