Apple and Cisco have joined Microsoft in fighting warrants for foreign data

Microsoft is challenging a US search warrant for customer emails stored on a data center outside the country, and tech companies are lining up in support. Apple and Cisco are the latest to file a friend-of-the-court brief backing the software giant’s position. The joint filing, made Friday, is in addition to ones earlier in the week by Verizon and AT&T showing their support. The Electronic Frontier Foundation also filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday, saying US warrants don’t apply to emails stored on an overseas server. “The Fourth Amendment protects from unreasonable search and seizure. You can’t ignore the ‘seizure’ part just because the property is digital and not physical,” said EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury, according to a press release Friday. “Ignoring this basic point has dangerous implications — it could open the door to unfounded law enforcement access to and collection of data stored around the world.” Court papers made public Monday detail Microsoft’s objections to comply with a December warrant for a customer’s email data stored in Dublin, Ireland, that the US government is seeking in connection with a criminal investigation.