WASHINGTON – Today, ITI, the global voice of the tech sector, applauded the introduction of the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act of 2018. This bipartisan bill seeks to incentivize bilateral government cooperation to address conflicts of laws that impede cross-border criminal investigations, while balancing the interests of individuals, communications service providers, and law enforcement to reduce international conflicts.

“Digital data flows enable us to communicate with friends and family across the globe and open new markets for small and large businesses alike,” said Andy Halataei, ITI’s senior vice president of government affairs. “But because these data flows are not necessarily stored in any particular country, and data access laws and international frameworks have not kept up with the pace of innovation, companies often find themselves in a no-win situation. When a government presents them with a legitimate need for access to data, complying with the laws in one country puts them in conflict with the laws in another. This creates a complicated and conflicting global legal landscape that only serves to erode consumer confidence in technology products and services.

“The CLOUD Act is a concrete step in reforming the United States’ outdated stored communications laws that were designed before anyone could have imagined how the internet would transform the way we communicate and do business,” he continued. “This legislation is a valuable effort to modernize our data access laws to reflect the way data is stored in the cloud today. We thank Senators Hatch (R-Utah), Coons (D-Del.), Graham (R-S.C.), and Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Representatives Collins (R-Ga.), Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Issa (R-Calif.), and DelBene (D-Wash.) for their leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with them on the details of the bill.”

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