Google no longer fights search warrants for data on foreign servers

A new court filing to the Supreme Court reveals Google has quietly ceased its fight to challenge most search warrants from US judges for data on foreign servers. Google and others started challenging US warrants for overseas data in court last year, but it seems like Microsoft is now the only major party that's still putting up a fight.

Google and other services began challenging US warrants for overseas data after a federal appeals court sided with Microsoft last year in a first-of-its-kind challenge. Microsoft convinced the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals—which has jurisdiction over Connecticut, New York, and Vermont—that US search-and-seizure law does not require compliance with a warrant to turn over e-mail stored on its servers in Ireland. Federal prosecutors were demanding the data as part of a US drug investigation.

The issue puts tech giants in a difficult position, not only from a privacy point of view but also legally as the US court orders sometimes conflict with the laws of the countries where the data is stored. Full details at ARS Technica.