- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has filed suit against the Department of Justice, the latest legal maneuver in a battle brewing over data privacy between Feds and tech companies.
- The company is fighting government gag orders that prevent firms from telling their users when the government is reviewing their digital information.
- The suit specifically says that such orders when used as part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act violate Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights, as well as Microsoft's First Amendment right to talk with its customers.
- Secrecy orders that have no fixed end dates mean "we effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data,” says Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith.
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