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We belleve LhaL CuLlook and PoLmall emall are and should be prlvaLe.

1oday
Lhere has been coverage abouL a parucular case. Whlle we Look exLraordlnary
acuons ln Lhls case based on Lhe speclc clrcumsLances and our concerns abouL
producL lnLegrlLy LhaL would lmpacL our cusLomers, we wanL Lo provlde addluonal
conLexL regardlng how we approach Lhese lssues generally and how we are
evolvlng our pollcles.
CourLs do noL lssue orders auLhorlzlng someone Lo search Lhemselves, slnce
obvlously no such order ls needed. So even when we belleve we have probable
cause, lL's noL feaslble Lo ask a courL Lo order us Lo search ourselves. Powever,
even we should noL conducL a search of our own emall and oLher cusLomer
servlces unless Lhe clrcumsLances would [usufy a courL order, lf one were
avallable. ln order Lo bulld on our currenL pracuces and provlde assurances for
Lhe fuLure, we wlll follow Lhe followlng pollcles golng forward:
- 1o ensure we comply wlLh Lhe sLandards appllcable Lo obLalnlng a courL
order, we wlll rely ln Lhe rsL lnsLance on a legal Leam separaLe from Lhe
lnLernal lnvesugaung Leam Lo assess Lhe evldence. We wlll move forward
only lf LhaL Leam concludes Lhere ls evldence of a crlme LhaL would be
sumclenL Lo [usufy a courL order, lf one were appllcable. As an addluonal
sLep, as we go forward, we wlll Lhen submlL Lhls evldence Lo an ouLslde
auorney who ls a former federal [udge. We wlll conducL such a search only
lf Lhls former [udge slmllarly concludes LhaL Lhere ls evldence sumclenL for a
courL order.
- Lven when such a search Lakes place, lL ls lmporLanL LhaL lL be conned Lo
Lhe mauer under lnvesugauon and noL search for oLher lnformauon. We
Lherefore wlll conunue Lo ensure LhaL Lhe search lLself ls conducLed ln a
proper manner, wlLh supervlslon by counsel for Lhls purpose.
- llnally, we belleve lL ls approprlaLe Lo ensure Lransparency of Lhese Lypes of
searches, [usL as lL ls for searches LhaL are conducLed ln response Lo
governmenLal or courL orders. We Lherefore wlll publlsh as parL of our bl-
annual Lransparency reporL Lhe daLa on Lhe number of Lhese searches LhaL
have been conducLed and Lhe number of cusLomer accounLs LhaL have been
aecLed.

1he only excepuon Lo Lhese sLeps wlll be for lnLernal lnvesugauons of Mlcroso
employees who we nd ln Lhe course of a company lnvesugauon are uslng Lhelr
personal accounLs for Mlcroso buslness. And ln Lhese cases, Lhe revlew wlll be
conned Lo Lhe sub[ecL mauer of Lhe lnvesugauon.
1he prlvacy of our cusLomers ls lncredlbly lmporLanL Lo us, and whlle we belleve
our acuons ln Lhls parucular case were approprlaLe glven Lhe speclc
clrcumsLances, we wanL Lo be clear abouL how we wlll handle slmllar slLuauons
golng forward. 1haL ls why we are bulldlng on our currenL pracuces and addlng Lo
Lhem Lo furLher sLrengLhen our processes and lncrease Lransparency.
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