Searches Without Frontiers

In order to keep up with the continuing evolution of electronic communications, U.S. law enforcement agencies are now, more than ever, setting their sights on data stored overseas. Private communications, such as e-mails, are increasingly being collected by U.S. companies and then processed and stored using cloud computing and data servers located abroad. Law enforcement theoretically has at its disposal Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) ' agreements between two or more countries that facilitate cross-governmental collaboration in criminal investigations and prosecutions. But the MLAT process is complicated, time-consuming and ill-equipped to handle 21st-century data storage and privacy issues. The result is that law enforcement agencies conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions increasingly find that vital data evidence lies beyond their jurisdictional reach.