The Cloud Act authorizes the U.S. government to enter into executive agreements with other nations, so long as listed privacy and human rights protections are built into those agreements. One prime requirement is that the non-U.S. government request for criminal evidence “shall be subject to review or oversight by a court, judge, magistrate, or other independent authority prior to, or in proceedings regarding, enforcement of the order.” This requirement of “review or oversight” by a judicial officer could split the [...]

E-Evidence negotiations in the EU Council are currently locked in stalemate. The clock is ticking, due to the upcoming European elections and the will of the Austrian Presidency to conclude the Council negotiations by December. Yet, the October 11th meeting of the European ministers of Justice showed, according to the Austrian presidency’s conclusion that: “There is a big divergence of opinions and it will be difficult to find a compromise that bridges these differences”.i The meeting made progress on another [...]

In the IAPP article Announcing the new Cross-Border Data Forum, Professors Christakis, Daskal, and Swire introduce the Cross-Border Data Forum. The article explains the aims and role of the CBDF, including its four announced goals: [...]

In their IAPP article The Globalization of Criminal Evidence, Professors Christakis, Daskal, and Swire explain how the rise of cloud computing has led to “more than half of all investigation involv[ing] a cross-border request to access [electronic] evidence,” according to a 2018 report by the European Commission. The article examines how this globalization of criminal evidence is driving historic changes in the rules for law enforcement access to electronic communications and other records consistent with privacy and human rights protections. [...]