NSA to be challenged by British citizen

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A British citizen is taking legal action to question the right of American giant Microsoft to disclose private data on UK citizens to the National Security Agency (NSA).

Journalist Kevin Cahill has brought the case in the Lord Mayor’s and City of London County Court, claiming that Microsoft breached the security of his email account, as although it was abiding by American law it had broken the UK law.

He is seeking damages of £1,000 under the Data Protection Act, while also requesting the court order Microsoft to reveal the contents of the orders made under the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The case is expected to test the legality of US technology companies being legally bound to disclose details of foreign users’ private communications.

It is sure to be of interest to many onlookers, with the revelations from former US intelligence contractor and whistleblower, Edward Snowden, still the subject of much debate.

It has also been given an even greater sense of relevance due to the news that the UK government plans to use cloud services from Microsoft to store parliamentary data.

Other service providers to be named by the Snowden documents as participating in such behaviour include Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple.

And human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC has since said that the case could have significant consequences for both Microsoft and other service providers if it is successful.

He said: "Microsoft allegedly betrayed its customers by providing their personal information, without their consent, to the NSA."

"This would constitute a serious breach of the British Data Protection Act, by an American company putting its allegiance to America above its legal duties to its British customers."

A Microsoft spokesman told Computer Weekly: “We have been notified of an action being filed, and will be responding to it in due course. It would be inappropriate to comment further on the details of an active legal case."

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”. NSA to be challenged by British citizen. December 11, 2013. Storetec.