Microsoft has been fighting a US court order demanding access to emails on stored on a server in Dublin, Ireland since December 2013 and it’s finally got a break. The Irish government has declared that US authorities will need to work with it if they want to access data stored in the country.

The central argument in Microsoft’s case has been that as US search warrants can’t be executed in a foreign country, court orders also shouldn’t have power over data stored overseas.

In a court filing, Ireland says it will consider and process requests for access to data but that US courts must respect its sovereignty. The country’s minister for data protection, Dara Murphy says:

“The right of individuals to the protection of their personal data is an essential foundation for modern society and the growing digital economy. We must ensure that individuals and organizations can have confidence in the rules and processes that have been put in place to safeguard privacy.”

Late last year, Microsoft announced that it was expanding encryption and legal protections across its services in a bid to tackle the threat of government spying.

➤ Ireland weighs in on Microsoft email privacy case [Seattle Times via Engadget]

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