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Steve Welburn, 2012-11-20 12:35 PM
USA PATRIOT Act¶
The 2001 USA PATRIOT Act provides the US government with the right to search/seize data held by any US company or its subsidiaries. It does not matter where the data is physically stored, if it is held by a US company (Microsoft, Apple, Google, DropBox, Amazon...) then the US government can seize the data. However, in order to do so it is necessary for the US government to obtain a court order for the purpose of an anti-terrorism investigation - they can't just idly decide to grab your data.
Further information:- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat USA PATRIOT Act FAQ
- Hogan Lovells white paper on Government Access To Cloud Data compares rights of access for various jurisdictions.
- 2001 "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" (USA PATRIOT) Act (Link).