CIO Experts, Cloud Computing, and Privacy Concerns
Cloud computing (the "cloud") is abuzz in e-commerce and tech circles. The idea of computing online or in the cloud continues to be an emerging trend being watched by many, including leading Chief Information Officers (CIO's).
What, then, do leading IT pro's think about this cloud concept? Julian Goldsmith at silicon.com asks this question of twelve IT experts in, CIO Jury: Cloud under a cloud with IT heads. Her jury of 12 CIO experts voted against employing today’s cloud in their organizations by a vote of 10-2.
Pro cloud arguments offered by her panel include benefits in cost savings, service delivery, infrastructure, and others. Her panel’s opponents of today’s cloud model raised concerns of security, sophistication, and reliability. Regardless of the final vote, this case is not closed and it appears even the cloud’s critics believe operating in the cloud could be the wave of the future. While he voted “no” on the panel, IT Manager, Ben Acheson, discussing the cloud’s potential, said:
Above all it needs to be tried and tested before it will catch on. In the meantime I'm keeping my eye on the technology because in my view it represents the future [.]
Perhaps the only barrier to businesses' ascendancy into the cloud seems to be time. While reliability, sophistication, and innovation are concerns perhaps best left to the free market, should privacy be treated differently? I think so, but I’m concerned our laws may not travel ahead of, or at least alongside, the path technology’s advancements are taking.
Alternatively, privacy concerns run the risk of becoming outweighed by the market and the comparative efficiencies cloud applications could provide. If so, then privacy cases will likely proceed case-by-case in various jurisdictions with disjointed bodies of law emerging.
In the end, if privacy laws (and their penalties) don’t give IT professionals a leg to stand on in prioritizing privacy rights, then perhaps privacy lawsuits, cloud class actions, or other cloud torts will. I’d argue, however, this is not ideal for businesses or consumers on a number of fronts.
