The NSA reforms announced by President Barack Obama last week fell somewhat short of what many people were hoping for. And that includes Microsoft, which as we know only too well, was one of the major tech companies targeted under the NSA’ PRISM program.

In a response to Obama’s reforms posted this week, Microsoft’s General Counsel Brad Smith outlines what the software giant would like to see, including an “international legal framework” targeting all governments – not just the US – that would limit their ability to carry out digital surveillance.

Obama’s reforms represent “positive progress” in some key areas, noted Smith, but he said that “the time has come for broader international discussion” as well. Specifically, what Smith wants to see is an international agreement which would compel “governments to seek information about the private citizens of the other participating countries only pursuant to legal rules and due process.”

Obviously, any such agreement would mean that the US and other governments would lose a large part of their intelligence-gathering capabilities, but Smith says that this can be compensated for. He proposes the creation of a process to expedite international data requests from law enforcement agencies, that still preserves people’s privacy rights:

“For example, if the authorities in one country believe there is a threat that needs to be investigated by accessing data about private citizens in another country, they could use this new, streamlined process to seek this information. They would need to respect the legal rules and safeguards in this second country, including measures that ensure that the requesting government adheres to established due process standards.”

Smith argues that one of the main reasons governments engage in warrantless surveillance of foreign citizens is because they’re held back by existing international agreements, which often cause long delays when law enforcement agencies request digital information. Smith’s proposes agreement would give nations an incentive to participate – those that sign up for it would receive assurances that their own citizens are safe from surveillance by other signatories to the deal, while citizens in countries that don’t go for it would still be fair game.

Smith’s argument is bang on – during his speech, Obama made it clear that one of the main reasons the NSA is so heavily engaged in surveillance of foreign citizens is because it’s worried if it stops, other nation’s intelligence services would continue doing so.

An international agreement is a nice idea, but even so it’s unlikely to happen. The only way it would work is if the world’s most powerful actors all agreed to play nice – that means getting the whole of Europe on board, as well as countries like Russia and China. As for the US, there are dozens of reasons why it might never ratify such an agreement, given the severe restrictions it would place on the NSA’s current operations.

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