HONG KONG - Emails and data stored by American companies in Hong Kong must be surrendered at the request of the US government, its federal courts ruled Thursday.
USA District Judge Loretta Preska said US federal search warrants required Microsoft to surrender any data it controlled even if the data was kept on foreign soil.
The finding by Preska has wide ranging implications over the personal data of non-Americans and the operations of US-based multinational corporations operating outside their home market.
Several US-based internet giants, including Cisco, Facebook, Microsoft and Google, have data center operations in Hong Kong serving regional clients and accounts.
Preska stayed the order in anticipation of an appeal by Microsoft, which has vowed to do so in the name of privacy protection worldwide.
A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Information Officer told China Daily the Hong Kong government did not utilize Microsoft for its data storage but declined to say if any other US corporation was involved in the handling and storage of public data.
The spokesman added the government was not in a position to comment on the privacy implications of the US government ruling.
