In a February 27 MuniBlog posting we described a case pending before the United States Supreme Court on whether the provider of email services, Microsoft, must provide electronic communications stored outside the United States in satisfaction with a probable-cause-based warrant.  In United States v. Microsoft Corp.  the question is not whether Microsoft has the emails, but whether the emails are outside the jurisdiction of the warrant when servers holding such emails are not located within the United States. While it was expected that the Justices would have a hard time balancing legitimate law-enforcement versus privacy interests, Congress addressed the issue when it enacted and the President signed into law the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD Act) in March, 2018.  The CLOUD Act requires a service provider “…preserve, backup, or disclose the contents of a wire or electronic communication…regardless of whether such communication, record, or other information is located within or outside of the United States.”  The United States obtained a new warrant shortly after the CLOUD Act was signed into law.

Accordingly, as there is no longer a dispute the Supreme Court has dismissed the case as moot.

Law enforcement and municipalities in general should be aware of the CLOUD Act for any ongoing or future matters.