Cloudy Laws I – Cloud Computing Security and Legal Challenges

Supercell clouds over Nebraska

Cloud computing presents innumerable opportunities and brings with it enormous security and legal challenges.  While there is no single accepted definition of the “cloud,” the National Institute of Standards and Technology created a reference model in 2011.  NIST defined cloud computing by describing its five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models. (NIST Special Publication 800-145): Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Essential …

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LocationGate – Where in the World Was Waldo?

Just look at his iPhone data Apparently I am not the only person troubled by the 2011 revelation that Google and Apple collect location data from smart phones.  Mike Elgan wrote a thoughtful piece for Computerworld. Who owns your location? – Computerworld The idea of tracking files existing on phones and on the computers used to synch data raises eDiscovery issues as well as obvious privacy and data security concerns.  Will employers be tempted to look at the data collected by company issued phones to see if their sales team or delivery drivers were on task?  Employers defending discrimination cases are …

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