Microsoft has picked up a hefty ally in its battle to oppose a US court order demanding access to emails stored in its Dublin, Ireland data center. The Irish government has sided with Redmond, claiming that if Microsoft gives in to the US government’s demands, it could have big consequences for international sovereignty and digital privacy.

The fight dates back to July 31, when US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled Microsoft had to give U.S. Department of Justice officials access to Outlook.com emails stored on its Irish servers. Microsoft promptly appealed against the ruling, arguing in a filing that the emails “are located exclusively on a computer in Dublin, where they are protected by Irish and European privacy laws.”

Microsoft recruited some heavy backing in the form of Apple Inc., Amazon Inc., Cisco Systems Ltd., and Hewlett-Packard Co., and various other tech firms and trade organizations just days after it filed its appeal, and now Ireland’s government has waded into the argument.

“The Government of Ireland and a member of the European Parliament weighed in separately with the court considering our case challenging a US search warrant for customer email stored in Ireland,” said Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs, in a statement.

According to a document written by Ireland’s government, its lack of participation in the U.S. court proceedings does not constitute a waiver of its sovereignty rights. “Ireland does not accept any implication that it is required to intervene into foreign court proceedings to protect its sovereign rights in respect of its jurisdiction, or that Ireland not intervening is evidence of consent to a potential infringement thereof,” said the document.

Ireland pressed its case further, stating that the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty is the proper mechanism for the DOJ to obtain the information it seeks. “Ireland would be pleased to consider, as expeditiously as possible, a request under the treaty, should one be made,” the document added.

Ireland’s input into the case helps Microsoft, as it highlights the wider ramifications of Judge Preska’s rulings.

“The Irish government’s engagement underscores that an international dialogue on this issue is not only necessary but possible,” continued Smith in his statement. “We’ve long argued that it’s best for law enforcement to move forward in a way that respects people’s rights under their local laws.”

Meanwhile, Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German member of the European Parliament, has made a separate filing that highlights the clash between European and US data privacy laws. And it could be bad news for US cloud providers wanting to do business in Europe.

“The refusal of the U.S. Attorney to recognize that the email account at issue is located in a foreign jurisdiction and subject to foreign data protection rules is not only offensive to the sensitivities of European citizens but also reinforces the already strong sentiment of many EU citizens that their data is not ‘safe’ when they use IT services offered by U.S. corporations,” said Albrecht.

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