How Should Europe Protect Its Cloud Computing Data?

Key European Cloud Issues

Europe needs to focus on the following key issues prior to developing any cloud computing standard related to data privacy and security

1. Define the types of data. Not all data is created equal. Some European data may be perfectly acceptable residing on the public cloud. Confidential data, however, may deserve more special treatment.
2. Data residency. Where is confidential data residing? Cloud computing means elasticity, scalability, and often implies large public cloud infrastructure, which is not always visible or transparent. Knowing where confidential data resides will be an important first step towards protecting it.
3. Data access. Once you know where the data is, you also need to know who has access and what they are doing with it. Other countries, like the United States, have already created similar standards related to outsourcing of bank data and infrastructure. Europe should follow this trend and demand more visibility into cloud access policies and procedures.

Europe, like most other nations and regions throughout the world, is not unique in their quest to offer protection to its citizenry and their data. The issue is not when, but how, Europe will act.

The benefits of cloud computing (i.e., managed services) are too numerous to list. The European Union should not attempt to stifle the progress being made in technology, but should instead attempt to create practical policies related to protecting its citizens' data. Doing this will not only serve the data protection objective, it will also create jobs and new opportunities within Europe.

If other countries follow this example, they too will see job growth, revenue expansion, and enhanced privacy and security for their data residing in the cloud.