White House Adviser, UK Security Chief Op-Ed Favors Cloud Act

A bill for faster access to internationally stored electronic crime data would help American law enforcement, wrote White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert and U.K. Deputy National Security Adviser Paddy McGuinness in The New York Times Wednesday. “American efforts to investigate crime and terrorism are increasingly impeded by our lack of access to data stored outside the United States, even when it is held by companies subject to our jurisdiction.” They supported the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (Cloud) Act. Introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga. (see 1802060065). It was pitched to streamline cross-border data requests. “Officials in one country investigating a serious crime with victims in that very same country [often] cannot get data they need simply because it is on a server halfway across the world,” wrote Bossert and Paddy McGuinness: “Our legal constructs are not keeping up” with technology. The legislation would authorize the U.S. attorney general to sign special agreements with other nations, allowing America expedited access to foreign data stored on the cloud. The two said potential partners would be limited to allies “that respect privacy and protect civil liberties,” and Britain is the first potential one.