Many civil rights groups, trade bodies and companies, including Google, Amazon, Cisco Systems, Apple and Twitter, have filed briefs in a federal court to back Microsoft’s move to prevent the indiscriminate use by U.S. law enforcement of orders that force companies not to inform their users about requests for their data.
Under the Stored Communications Act, a part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, companies can be compelled under 18 U.S. Code § 2703 to turn over certain consumer information to law enforcement for their investigations, sometimes without the requirement of notice to the customer whose information is targeted.
