US Passes a Controversial Act That Could End International User Privacy
Posted by AITZAZ HASSAN
House of Representatives of United States of America has passed a controversial bill that will give access to government to user data stored on overseas servers. Once passed, the bill will allow law enforcement authorities to access the data of the companies stored on internationally placed servers.
Previously, no country’s court or law enforcement had a clear jurisdiction over the data stored outside the country’s borders.
The Cloud Act will allow internal and foreign law enforcement to access user data without a search warrant or a strong probable cause.
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Furthermore, it will give power to the Attorney General to enter into agreements with foreign countries unilaterally.
The supporters of the act say that;
This will enable a foreign government to access compliance with the terms of the agreement and intervene diplomatically if it believes the request is inappropriate. The CLOUD Act has broad support in both the tech community and law enforcement, and bridges the divide we sometimes see between these two groups.
However, the bill has received a strong opposition as well. The opponents of the bill are saying that it will compromise the privacy of the users. The critics in the United States said;
The CLOUD Act represents a major change in the law — and a major threat to our freedoms. Congress should not try to sneak it by the American people by hiding it inside of a giant spending bill.
Technically, this should also allow cyber crime authorities from other countries, including Pakistan, to ask for user data on US servers, without a US warrant.
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