United States v. Microsoft Corp.

In United States v. Microsoft Corp., the U.S. government sought to compel Microsoft to disclose emails stored on a server in Ireland under a warrant issued pursuant to the Stored Communications Act of 1986. Microsoft refused, arguing that the Act did not apply extraterritorially. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Microsoft, holding that the warrant could not reach data stored abroad. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard oral arguments in February 2018. Before a ruling was issued, Congress passed the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD Act) in March 2018, rendering the case moot. On April 17, 2018, the Supreme Court vacated the Second Circuit's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the new law.

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Second Circuit and remanded the case for further proceedings, deeming the controversy moot due to the enactment of the CLOUD Act. No definitive ruling on the statutory interpretation was issued.

Whether the Stored Communications Act of 1986 authorizes the U.S. government to compel an American email service provider to disclose private electronic communications stored on servers located outside the United States.

The case precipitated the passage of the CLOUD Act, establishing a new legal framework for cross-border data access. It clarified that U.S. law enforcement can compel disclosure of data regardless of its storage location, while also creating mechanisms for bilateral executive agreements with foreign governments. This landmark dispute profoundly influenced global debates on data sovereignty, privacy rights, and the jurisdictional reach of national laws in the digital age.