When Microsoft on Thursday (April 14) sued the U.S. Justice Department demanding more openness about data seizures, it made the case that its customers have the right to know when their data in the cloud is being examined. Retail IT execs need to watch this case very closely, since the massive data stores of merchants are a popular place for law enforcement to snoop. Just like Microsoft, retailers have much to fear from their customers seeing them as government agents.

For the government, finding out about every inquiry or purchase that was made by a consumer with a wide range of retailers is an effective way to establish intent.

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