Ireland Weighs in on Microsoft's Data Fight With U.S.

Microsoft's fight to preserve data stored on servers in Ireland is gaining support from across the world.

A week after 10 U.S.-based groups filed "friend of the court" briefs in New York, the Irish government and European parliament have entered amicus briefs in Redmond's favor.

"The right of individuals to the protection of their personal data is an essential foundation for modern society and the growing digital economy," Dara Murphy, Ireland's minister for data protection, said in a statement this week.

In its amicus curiae, the Republic of Ireland suggested that the U.S. government respect other countries' jurisdictions when issuing search warrants. It did, however, reveal that existing treaties between the two countries could allow data to be shared.

"Ireland continues to facilitate cooperation with other states, including the United States, in the fight against crime and, in this regard, has enacted legislation giving effect to a large number of international treaties and instruments providing for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters," the brief said.

Microsoft's battle began late last year, when a U.S. court ordered the tech giant to turn over customer email data stored in a Dublin data center. Redmond appealed and lost, but took the fight public in hopes of having the ruling reversed.

Over the summer, Verizon, Apple, and Cisco showed their support by filing amicus briefs, suggesting the government had "erred." But in July, Microsoft again lost a bid to keep U.S. officials from seizing data stored on international servers.

In a separate brief, European Parliament member Jan Albrecht called for tough privacy rules in the 28-member European Union, adding that the direct access by the U.S. to information stored in Europe would undermine the region's strict data protection laws.

"The protection of privacy and personal data in EU law is not intended to stop the use and exchange of data. Its purpose is to regulate the transfer and storage of data, preserving the ability of the data subject to control his personal data," Albrecht said in the filing. "The decision of the District Court effectively permits this carefully constructed regime to be sidestepped. It has far-reaching implications for the handling of personal data by the globalized technology industry."

It remains unclear whether the EU and Ireland's added encouragement will help boost Redmond's standing.

Microsoft currently manages a global network of more than 1 million customers, stored in more than 100 data centers, spread across 40 countries, hosting more than 200 online services used by more than 1 billion customers worldwide.