A Study on CLOUD Act and Executive Agreements Thereunder Regarding Extraterritorial Access to e-evidence

Abstract

With development in cloud technology, several judicial judgments have been delivered in Japan regarding the extraterritorial data acquisition in the process of criminal investigation. Meanwhile, CLOUD Act have been in force since 2018. This Act permits direct extraterritorial enforcement of data acquisition by the U.S. while permitting qualifying foreign governments to acquire the data in the U.S. under certain conditions. This paper analyzes the details and issues of the CLOUD Act, especially those regarding the reciprocity and violation of data privacy regulations in other countries.