The DOJ is making a legal claim that demonstrates the kind of overreach that has people in Germany and many other countries in a steadily rising state of indignation.
US government asserts unilateral right to access private data, even if it’s stored outside the US
When Edward Snowden leaked data about then-secret NSA programs and monitoring practices last year, he kicked off a serious headache for a number of American companies that do business overseas. Many of the biggest names in digital business, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo claim to have lost business with international customers as a result and have frantically reassured their existing customers that no, the US is not (or can no longer) spy on their data. Those arguments took a huge whack last week when the Justice Department asserted in a brief that data stored on an American company’s servers must be accessible via warrant — regardless of where the server actually is. (In this case, the unidentified account holder is an Irish citizen and his data is stored on a server in the EU).
Pre-Snowden, this kind of dispute might have barely qualified as news, but corporations have found themselves in the hot seat over how data is shared with the government. The DOJ’s argument is simple: Microsoft is an American company governed by American law, and the DOJ investigators have secured a legal and appropriate warrant that targets the email address and inbox of a specific individual.
Microsoft, in contrast, is arguing that the United States should use its Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to raise the issue with Ireland and coordinate with Irish law enforcement.
In short, the EU and its citizens take a dim view of the idea that American laws and ideals should apply to Europe just because we’re Americans. It puts Microsoft in between the ultimate rock and a hard place — if the company gives into US demands, it’ll be perceived as kowtowing to the same governmental departments responsible for the NSA’s excesses.
It really doesn't seem like hyperbole to describe this position as imperial arrogance. It ties in directly with the various spying scandals in Germany. The usual nationalist response to those incidents in the claim that the US isn't doing anything that other countries aren't doing. Other countries are not vacuuming up the world's private data because they lack the ability to do that. This is serious abuse of a position of advantage and it is likely to not only damage the international relations of the US government but also damage the interests of American businesses.