Cloud Act (US cloud cooperation agreements with other countries)

History

2022: US and UK agree on mutual access to cloud storage "to combat terrorists and smugglers"

On October 5, 2022, it became known that the United States and the United Kingdom began implementing an agreement on access to data, which, according to them, will help law enforcement agencies in both countries fight terrorism and smuggling.

The agreement, dubbed the Cloud Act, went into effect on October 3, 2022. The U.S. Justice Department called it the first agreement of its kind to allow investigators in both countries greater access to vital data to combat serious crimes under privacy and civil liberties standards.

The United States and the United Kingdom have begun implementing an agreement on access to data

According data access agreement to, service providers in one country can respond to legitimate requests for electronic ones data issued by another country "without" violating restrictions on cross-border disclosure. information

Both sides extol the data access agreement as a more prompt and effective way to access the necessary electronic data during the conduct of rapid investigations. This is said to greatly enhance the ability of the US and UK to prevent, identify, investigate and prosecute serious crimes, including terrorism, transnational organized crime, child exploitation, etc.

Both sides also argue that this agreement sets out numerous requirements that must be met so that the US or UK authorities can engage it. For example, requests made by US authorities should not be directed at individuals living in the UK and should be relevant to a serious crime. The agreement works similarly for the UK.

The United States and Britain have also chosen the competent bodies responsible for implementing the agreement in each country. In the United States, the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs (OIA) is the notified body, and in the United Kingdom, the UK Department of Home Affairs Investigative Powers Division.^[1]

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