The United States and United Kingdom soon will enter into a landmark agreement that reflects law enforcement efforts “to develop mechanisms to address the fact that evidence today is often located overseas.” The U.S.-U.K. Bilateral Data Access Agreement, which is expected to take effect in July, will allow both countries to access electronic data for the purpose of aiding criminal investigations and seeks to balance the interests of law enforcement with the rights of individual citizens. A number of safeguards are in place, including scope (only data relating to serious crimes can be requested), oversight (requests for data must be made in accordance with the legislation of the requesting country and subject to independent review by a designated authority), and the right to object (covered providers have the right to lodge a formal objection to a disclosure request with the requesting party and then with their home government), among others.
Read more
