Apple, Google and Microsoft put up a fight against US governments’ access to customer’s communications

In the summer, the Justice Department of Us obtained a court order demanding that Apple should turn over, in real time, text messages between suspects using iPhones. The order was issued as a part of an ongoing investigation involving guns and drugs. In response to the order Apple responded by stating that the iMessage system was encrypted and company could not comply. There are several other cases where requests like this were rebuffed. As a result some senior Justice Department and FBI officials advocated taking Apple to court, said many current and former law enforcement officials. Although that proposal has been put off for now, the Justice Department is still involved in court dispute with another tech company, Microsoft.

The government officials had previously warned that this type of standoff was inevitable as technology companies like Apple and Google embraced tougher encryption. The case against Microsoft goes before a federal appeals court in New York on Wednesday and is also being closely watched other industry officials and civil liberties advocates. It began when the tech giant refused with a warrant in December 2013 for emails from a drug trafficking suspect. Microsoft argued that the federal officials will have to get a warrant from an Irish court since the emails were stored on Dublin server.

These conflicts with the government have heightened in the post Edward Snowden era as the companies want to demonstrate that they are trying to protect the customer privacy. According to George J. Terwilliger, a lawyer who represents technology companies, it’s all becoming all wrapped up in Snowden and privacy issues. President Obama has charged White House homeland Security and cyber security officials, along with those at the Justice department, the FBI and the intelligence agencies, to propose solutions. Some of these solutions can be legislative while others not. The technology access issues are still being addressed and the companies and the federal officials are still hashing out their differences, according to law enforcement and administration officials.

Although White House has been studying the matter for months, it is yet to articulate a public response to the argument that a victory in the Microsoft case would provide authoritarian governments, particularly the Chinese and Russians, with a way to get access into the servers located in the United States. After it was revealed that the National Security Agency had secretly breached company networks without their knowledge, Apple , Google and Microsoft have been working together to reassure customers that they are fighting the government’s efforts to gain access of their communications.