Apple joins other tech giants to support Google in case of FBI

When Apple was having a hard time in the privacy case against the FBI, several technology companies have become “friends of the court” (amicus curiae), showing Ma support and going against the measures proposed by the investigation agency.

This time, whoever is on the side opposite the FBI Google, as revealed by The Register. And to support the company, Apple and other giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Cisco, became friends of the court in a case that requires the technology company to break confidentiality laws and provide information taken from emails coming from foreign servers.

In a similar situation, Microsoft managed to win a legal dispute, limiting the United States government's access to data located in foreign territories. However, in a District of Pennsylvania, a judge asked Google to hand over information stored outside the country, claiming that the suspects' data would be “searched” on American soil so there would be no what they called “extraterritoriality” in relation to the Stored Communications Act. Even so, the company refused to deliver the data.

When a court order searches for email content from a data center abroad, this privacy invasion occurs outside the United States where customers' private communications are stored and where they are accessed and copied for the benefit of law enforcement, without the customer's consent.

The Mountain View giant also claims that, once they have access to that data, they can “invite” other countries to demand emails from American citizens whose data is being kept in the United States.

In the document signed by Apple, the company criticizes the judicial measures, stating that “only Congress can update the Stored Communications Act and explaining about the possible consequences of this type of request ”.

Such a courageous projection of US law enforcement power in foreign countries would show disdain for its sovereignty and threaten to break the existing harmony between the United States and other nations. It also ignores the framework carefully calibrated and protected by the courtesy established through MLATs and other bilateral agreements. It can still put service providers in an unsustainable position of being forced to violate foreign privacy law in order to comply with warrants issued by U.S. courts.

As always, Apple has shown itself to support users' privacy and security. Including, perhaps that was the reason for Tim Cook's dinner with Sundar Pichai, which took place last Wednesday (8/3). When it comes to resistance to government agencies that can open much larger loopholes and hinder technological progress, camaraderie is what counts.

For sure, this is unfortunately only the beginning.

(via Business Insider)