USA PATRIOT Act » History » Version 7

Steve Welburn, 2012-11-20 12:55 PM

1 2 Steve Welburn
h3. USA PATRIOT Act
2 1 Steve Welburn
3 4 Steve Welburn
The 2001 "USA PATRIOT Act":http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/content-detail.html 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.
4 1 Steve Welburn
5 7 Steve Welburn
Note that these rights are not terribly different to the rights of other countries to access data (see Hogan Lovells' "white paper":http://www.hoganlovells.com/hogan-lovells-revealing-study-about-governmental-access-to-data-in-the-cloud-detailed-in-white-paper-released-at-brussels-program-05-23-2012/).
6 6 Steve Welburn
7 4 Steve Welburn
Further information:
8 1 Steve Welburn
* Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat "USA PATRIOT Act FAQ":http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/gospubs/TBM_128/usapa/faq-eng.asp
9 5 Steve Welburn
* Hogan Lovells' white paper on "Government Access To Cloud Data":http://www.hoganlovells.com/hogan-lovells-revealing-study-about-governmental-access-to-data-in-the-cloud-detailed-in-white-paper-released-at-brussels-program-05-23-2012/ compares rights of access for various jurisdictions.
10 3 Steve Welburn
11 3 Steve Welburn
The Act:
12 3 Steve Welburn
* 2001 "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" (USA PATRIOT) Act ("Link":http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/content-detail.html).