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US Government’s CLOUD Act Gives Government Access to User Data

US Government’s CLOUD Act Gives Government Access to User Data

The United States government has recently added a last-minute Act to their $1.3 trillion spending bill, which has been signed by President Donald Trump on March 23rd. This new act – the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act – will allow both US officials and foreign governments to access personal data.

The bill was voted in on Friday, passing 256-167 in the house and 65-23 in senate. It will allow the data held by private companies to be accessed and used in ongoing investigations, and according to Senator Rand Paul, the senate was unable to reject the CLOUD Act, as it “got stuck onto the Omnibus, with no prior legislative action or review.”

Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google sent a letter on February 6th regarding the CLOUD Act;

“Our companies have long advocated for international agreements and global solutions to protect our customers and Internet users around the world. We have always stressed that dialogue and legislation – not litigation – is the best approach. If enacted, the CLOUD Act would be notable progress to protect consumers’ rights and would reduce conflicts of law.”

Microsoft sent an additional statement on March 21st, showing their support for the CLOUD Act:

“[The CLOUD act] creates a modern legal framework for how law enforcement agencies can access data across borders. It’s a strong statute and a good compromise that reflects recent bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, as well as support from the Department of Justice, the White House, the National Association of Attorneys General and a broad cross section of technology companies […] it gives tech companies like Microsoft the ability to stand up for the privacy rights of our customers around the world. The bill also includes a strong statement about the importance of preventing governments from using the new law to require that U.S. companies create backdoors around encryption, an important additional privacy safeguard.”

With the recent revelation of Cambridge Analytica harvesting user data from 50 million people on Facebook, and this new Act in place, privacy is becoming a fantasy.