where a person might have a "reasonable expectation of privacy," including areas outside the home. As the internet
Beginning in the 1960s, the Supreme Court issued a series of rulings which apply constitutional protections to places
developed, questions emerged about where internet communication takes place and the level of privacy protection email
users can expect.
In the case United States v. Microsoft (2018), the federal government issued Microsoft Corporation a warrant to hand over
to authorities email communications between some of its users. Federal law enforcement alleged that one of Microsoft's
email users was operating an account to facilitate illegal drug trafficking. Microsoft refused to comply with the warrant,
claiming that
government.
Before the Supreme Court decided the case, Congress intervened by passing the CLOUD Act, which required internet-
based
and the
foreign government agreed. Microsoft and other internet companies accepted the new legislation, but the law raised
concerns among many groups that civil liberties were being violated.