In response to the NSA scandal, Microsoft wants to store data of foreign customers in European data centers. While privacy advocates welcomed the decision, critics continue to see no comprehensive protection against NSA access.
"People should be able to know if their data is subject to the laws and access of governments in another country. And they should be able to make an informed decision about where their data is stored, "Smith said. In the future, Microsoft will offer customers the choice in which data center their data will be stored. For European customers, Microsoft's data center in Ireland could be an option.
Privacy advocates welcomed the push of the software company. "It's incredibly positive," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, the Financial Times. "If they truly publicly profess to store data locally, they break with the rest of the industry."
However, in the outsourcing of data from non-US citizens, critics see no effective protection against the NSA. At the direction of a secret US court, US companies may be required to provide information about specific users, no matter where they are stored.
However, according to Chester, it is harder for the NSA to illegally harvest data if it is stored outside the United States and subject to local privacy laws. "If the data is not transported, this type of access is stopped."
For cost reasons, many Internet companies refrain from operating their own data centers in each country in which they operate. A planned data protection law in Brazil, which plans to store the data in the country, criticized Google and Facebook last year.
Microsoft lawyer Smith now acknowledged that this was costly, but at the same time asked, "Does that mean they ignore customers' wishes? This is not an intelligent business strategy. "
The chief justice recently called for an international data access agreement by governments, causing a stir. The small secret service reform announced by US President Barack Obama does not go far enough for Smith. He believes that the thematic breadth of the problems requires an international legal framework.
Microsoft and other technology companies, after the revelations of Edward Snowden, have to strive for the dwindling confidence of global customers, out of their own economic interests. Obama's announced measures to restrict surveillance, which also seeks to better protect the privacy of non-US citizens, are therefore gaining approval from Microsoft and competitors. A fundamental reform of the US wiretaps also demand Microsoft, Google and Facebook.
The business software provider SAP is also trying to beat Kaptial out of the NSA affair . In the past, SAP had repeatedly stated that it would be able to benefit from the stringent German data protection laws in cloud offerings as part of the Snowden revelations. In addition, the Walldorfer allegedly planning a data center in Australia because of the NSA .