INTRODUCTION
1.
Microsoft brings this case because its cu
stomers have a right to know when the
government obtains a warrant to read their ema
ils, and because Microsoft has a right to tell
them. Yet the Electronic Communications Priv
acy Act (“ECPA”) allows courts to order
Microsoft to keep its customers
in the dark when the government

seeks their email content or
other private information, based solely on a “reas
on to believe” that disclosure might hinder an
investigation. Nothing in the
statute requires that
the “reason to believe” be grounded in the
facts of the particular
investigation, and the statute contains
no limit on the length of time such
secrecy orders may be kept in place. 18 U.
S.C. § 2705(b). Conseque
ntly, as Microsoft’s
customers increasingly store their most privat
e and sensitive information in the cloud, the
government increasingly seeks
(and obtains) secrecy orders
under Section 2705(b).

SNIP