Promoting Public Saftey, Privacy, and the Rule of Law Around the World: The Purpose and Impact of the CLOUD Act

Tags: 2010s CLOUD Act Department of Justice Foreign International Law Enforcement

Published: April 2019

URL: https://www.justice.gov/dag/page/file/1153436/download#:~:text=The%20Act%20permits%20our%20foreign,fight%20serious%20crime%20and%20terrorism.

Abstract: In April 2019, the Department of Justice published this White Paper on the purpose and impact of the CLOUD Act. The Paper explains the CLOUD Act was enacted to speed access to electronic information held by U.S.-based global providers (communications service providers, “CSPs”) that is critical to foreign partners’ investigations of serious crimes. Specifically, the CLOUD Act is designed to permit those “foreign partners that have robust protections for privacy and civil liberties to enter into executive agreements with the United States to obtain access” this electronic information and evidence. The White Paper goes into further detail on the scope and nature of CLOUD Act Executive Agreements and mechanisms for ensuring lawful access to data, before answering a series of frequently asked questions regarding the Act.