The need to bring law enforcement into the 21st century

At Microsoft, I lead teams that focus on advancing external policy and governance for some of the most interesting and important issues that have a direct impact on society, including Privacy, Digital Safety, Telecommunications, Accessibility, Standards and Regulatory Governance.   

Another one of the domains I have the honor to lead is our Law Enforcement and National Security team. Among their many workstreams, this team is responsible for examining the requests Microsoft receives from governments around the world to ensure we are protecting data and following legal processes, and then to provide required information to help investigate serious global crime. As a result, my team and I have a unique vantage point on the global system that has developed to combat crime in the digital age, how it is broken, and what we can do to fix it. 

In this AI era, it is now clear that advanced technologies provide enormous opportunities to solve societal challenges. They can improve health outcomes, address climate change, and can help create a safe and more equitable world. At the same time, we are also seeing new kinds of challenges generated by digital technologies. Over the past year, we have seen a rise in more effective and damaging cyber-attacks, ransomware, and distribution of child sexual abuse material online.  

All these crimes leave digital fingerprints, and law enforcement’s ability to bring bad actors to justice depends on quickly following that evidence. In this modern age, we need to better equip our global law enforcement agencies with effective access to the digital evidence they need to identify and prosecute serious crimes, which are often committed on a global scale.  

Yet law enforcement agencies in many parts of the world are forced to use a decades old system, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, or MLATs, to seek digital evidence they need to solve serious crimes. While MLATs between governments span the globe, it often takes years before law enforcement agencies can obtain digital evidence through these inefficient systems, and by then, the criminals will have disappeared into the shadows.  

Allied governments, grounded in the rule of law and possessing similar protections for due process, should not be forced to rely on such antiquated systems. Today in time-sensitive investigations – like rescuing children from an online offender – moving with agility matters.  

Progress has been made. Governments have been working to address these issues and have developed a recognition of the mutual need to provide a better process for law enforcement to get the evidence they need across the democracies of the world. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development adopted a landmark agreement in December 2022 which sets out shared principles on necessary safeguards for how data can flow across borders for appropriate law enforcement purposes while ensuring that individuals’ rights and civil liberties are protected.  

Additionally, the United States has entered into rights-protecting data sharing agreements with United Kingdom and Australia. The UK law enforcement officials have noted that the UK-US Data Access Agreement has been "revolutionary" in its impact on their ability to fight global drug trafficking and child sexual abuse rings.   

We are also seeing advances between the European Union and the United States to enter into a Transatlantic e-Evidence Sharing Agreement. These discussions build upon the European Union’s recently adopted Internal EU rules, which are designed to bolster sharing of data among law enforcement agencies within the European Union. Once finalized, an agreement between the EU and US will address a critical public safety need and further strengthen ties between two of the largest allies in the world. 

I’m encouraged by all this progress, because I have personally seen how appropriate data sharing under an e-Evidence agreement, subject to necessary privacy safeguards, can be a positive force to change outcomes in some of these horrific cases. 

Take just one of many examples: data Microsoft recently provided under the UK-US agreement helped UK law enforcement solve a serious matter involving child sexual abuse. My team received a letter of gratitude from the law enforcement agency, which was able to rescue more than a dozen children from horrific abuse and put the perpetrators behind bars. Because Microsoft was able to swiftly share the data under the new agreement, the UK agency was able to quickly rescue these children and identify their abusers. I have spoken directly to law enforcement leaders in the United States, the UK, and the European Union who all know of similar cases. They recognize the tremendous impact that appropriate and swift access to data can have, and they want to work together so they can fulfill their missions to protect the public and fight serious crime more effectively.   

I am encouraged by the dedication from both the EU and US in solving this issue and the progress being made. An EU-US e-Evidence Agreement will help keep people safe on both sides of the Atlantic by providing law enforcement with the tools and access they need in the 21st century. Advancing the promise of safety while protecting rights requires all of us to work together to find common ground. At Microsoft, we are standing ready to help.