ACT | The App Association President Morgan Reed issued the following statement in support of the inclusion of H.R. 4943/ S. 2383, the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Access to Data (CLOUD) Act, in the omnibus spending bill.
“We applaud leadership in Congress for including the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act in the omnibus spending bill. The CLOUD Act would settle long-contested legal questions around American law enforcement access to data and provide clarity for the thousands of American small businesses that rely on cloud computing to reach customers overseas. For too long, our laws put American businesses in the middle of conflicts over data. This bill is the culmination of hard work and compromise. Today, we are much closer to a solution.
“The CLOUD Act provides a path forward for law enforcement and foreign governments to resolve conflict and ambiguity in data access laws. By authorizing our government to enter bilateral agreements with other countries, this legislation enables consumers to benefit from their home countries’ due process protections, wherever their data may be stored. This framework gives law enforcement the tools they need to keep us safe and small businesses the legal clarity they need to keep customers’ data protected.
“The inclusion of the CLOUD Act in the omnibus is critical. The CLOUD Act must become law before the U.S. Supreme Court renders a final decision interpreting the current, outdated law on this matter. We thank Senators Hatch and Coons and Representatives Jeffries and Collins for their unwavering dedication and leadership on this important issue and we are eager to see this solution realized.”