Police in other countries will be able to get emails and other electronic communication more easily from their own citizens and from Americans under a bill that Congress stuffed inside the massive $1.3 trillion spending deal passed last week, says USA Today. Supporters said the bill, dubbed the CLOUD Act, will simplify the process for the U.S. government and its allies to get evidence of serious crimes and terrorist threats when that evidence is stored on a server in another country. Opponents, including civil liberty and privacy rights groups, said the law could make it easier for nations with human rights abuses to spy on dissidents and collect data on Americans who communicate with foreign nationals. Internet providers had been able to legally stop police agencies from gaining access to their own citizens’ emails if those emails were stored in a foreign nation. Microsoft stores data on about 1 million servers in 40 countries.
“Tucked away in the omnibus spending bill is a provision that allows Trump, and any future president, to share Americans’ private emails and other information with countries he personally likes,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “That means he can strike deals with Russia or Turkey with nearly zero congressional involvement and no oversight by U.S. courts.” In a letter to Congress, the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch and 20 other civil liberties groups said the CLOUD Act allows foreign governments to wiretap on American soil, using standards that don’t comply with U.S. law, and gives the executive branch the power to enter into agreements with other nations without congressional approval.