14 DAY TRIAL // UK's Liberal Democrat party released a paper in which they highlight the risks involved in the security of data stored in the cloud. The government should look into the matter and make sure everything becomes properly regulated.
Because cloud-based solutions have taken off lately, being adopted by more companies and organizations in hopes of downsizing IT-related costs and personnel they may have overlooked the fact that, in case something should happen, there are no current regulations that would call to justice the companies that gamble with massive amounts of sensitive data.
The Register reveals that the paper called Policies for Information Technology praises the practicality of these solutions but on the other hand “cloud computing is an area where, if left unchecked, there is serious potential for abuse – for example, large corporations taking control of enormous quantities of public or private data outside the reach of national law.
“Cloud is only attractive if it embodies the principles on privacy and data ownership, access, project management and procurement that we have set out elsewhere in this paper.“
The fact that in many cases the actual storage is placed in other countries than the one where the customer resides might represent a problem in case something should occur and that's why it is believed that it is necessary for the United Kingdom officials to work closely with other governments and international bodies that could provide the support needed.
Among other things proposed by the document, policing the Internet, copyright issues and net neutrality are outlined by the Liberal Democrats.
It is clear that a powerful technology such as cloud computing should not be let to run loose, strict and careful laws being a necessity at this point. Because so many companies begin to rely on the power in the sky in case of an unfortunate event, too much money and important information would be lost.