Tech Giants Back U.S. Bill Governing Cross-Border Data Searches

Support comes amid court battle between U.S. and Microsoft
Microsoft, and other firms, prefer a legislative solution

Coaxial cables feed into a server inside a comms room at an office in London, U.K., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. A group of Russian hackers infiltrated the servers of Dow Jones & Co., owner of the Wall Street Journal and several other news publications, and stole information to trade on before it became public, according to four people familiar with the matter.Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Ben Brody

February 7, 2018 at 4:37 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. have thrown their support behind proposals in Congress to deal with cross-border data requests from law enforcement -- even as the issue heads for review before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The companies, along with Facebook Inc. and Oath Inc., on Tuesday signed letters welcoming bipartisan House and Senate versions of the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, or Cloud Act.