Have you heard if the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2011? Not surprised if you haven't. Are you a non-US company and think this does not apply to you? Think again. It most certainly does.
This bill is an amendment to a 1986 law that dealt with communications privacy in an era when Internet and cloud computing were mere science fiction. The new bill would update the outdated law and bring it into the 21st century. But, does the United States senate really understand what they are about to do?
First, the bill, recently changed from an earlier version, would allow law enforcement and many other governmental agencies to access your personal data stored in the cloud, without a warrant! That means data like your twitter, Facebook, and other social media information would be fair game. Furthermore, personal email and documents would also be accessible to these agencies, without a warrant. Popular public cloud services like Google Apps and Office 365 would be subject to this new law.
Second, the senate may not be aware of how such a law could impact US trade and commerce. Other existing laws like the Patriot Act already make doing business with the United States undesirable. Add to that this law and you have an undisputed hostility towards foreign entities that would make conducting business inside the US very challenging. Particularly those entities that value the integrity and privacy of their data.
Third, if the bill becomes law, it will have an unintended (but not necessarily bad) consequence on MSPs. Should public cloud data become accessible to government without a warrant, private cloud environments will proliferate in an attempt to offer data privacy and security to those customers willing to pay for it.
In the case the legislation mutates again to include domestic private cloud environments, you will absolutely see a massive shift to offshore data centers by those MSPs who do offer private clouds.
This bill, not only attempts to circumvent the US constitution but also avoids reality and underestimates the ingenuity and agility of the MSP community. Legislators should pay attention to the EU model and allow our industry to self regulate. Any attempt to directly intercede would be unwise and create negative unintended outcomes.
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