Microsoft is suing the US government on a national law that lets authorities analyze customer emails or on-line files with no person’s knowledge.

The suit comes as the technology sector butts heads over the privacy rights of consumers with US officials.

Microsoft says the US is abusing a decades-old law that permits a court to order the business to turn over alternative or e-mail customer files which are stored on its servers, while forbidding Microsoft from notifying the customer.

Microsoft says in a suit filed now that customer info was demanded by authorities in the last 18 months. times more than 5,600 In almost half those cases, a court ordered the business to maintain the demand secret.