U.S. Government Could Compel ISPs to Produce Personal Data Stored Abroad
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.07.14
As companies and individuals move away from storing information on their own computers into the cloud, concerns about the privacy of personal data in the hands of third party providers are steadily increasing. Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that an internet service provider (ISP) can be compelled to produce personal information located outside of the U.S. for purposes of a criminal investigation. If adopted by other courts, this decision would broaden the power of law enforcement agencies to obtain information stored on third-party servers, both domestically and abroad. It also raises significant questions about the constitutional limits on the U.S. government's ability to collect information from ISPs.
Click here to read more about this decision on Crowell & Moring's blog, E-Discovery Law Insights
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
