On October 16, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a highly publicized Second Circuit decision, which held that the federal government cannot use warrants issued under the Stored Communications Act to seize customer emails stored exclusively on foreign servers. Under the decision, Microsoft was permitted to refrain from producing emails stored on a Microsoft server in Ireland to the Justice Department. The Justice Department had sought a court order for the production of such emails in connection with a 2013 narcotics trafficking investigation. The Supreme Court’s opinion is expected by June 2018 and will have far-reaching implications for law enforcement’s ability to obtain electronic evidence stored outside of the U.S.
The Second Circuit’s decision in Microsoft Corp. v. United States can be accessed here.