Legal and Ethical Issues with Cloud Computing

Unfortunately, as is the case with the potential benefits of cloud technology, the potential legal and ethical issues are also numerous. The first of these surround privacy. The concern held by privacy advocates is that the companies hosting the cloud services have complete control over the communication and data that is stored between user and the host company. Essentially, service providers have a complete hold over the data they are storing, and as such, are responsible for a lot of private information and data (Keith, 2010). Once this is out of the hands of the users, the fear is that it can be used for purposes that the user does not desire, and without permission. As such, there has been a push of late by privacy advocates for a higher level of transparency from the service providers in order to prevent the illegal usage of user information (Security watch, 2012).

            Another ethical concern is that or security. Especially in the realm of business, this concern is what may be delaying an even more rapid adoption of cloud technology. The very fact that data is not being stored in the data centers of businesses means that security concerns are heightened (Keith, 2012). The ability to physically and visually inspect the links and access ports of the storage devices is the only way to absolutely ensure that security is not compromised and that data is not leaked or lost (Keith, 2012). This has the potential to open the door to issues involving data access, data segregation, accountability, and hackers, among others. Because of this, there is an added incentive for service providers to be able to ensure security to their clients (Security Watch, 2012). The main concern is that as the technology continues to improve, criminals will find a way to exploit the new and unaddressed weaknesses in the systems, compromising data.

            The final ethical issue that we will discuss is the idea of sustainability. Cloud technology is assumed to be an environmentally ethical way of storing and accessing data, but the fact is that there is no study to support this idea (Keith, 2012). As it stands, there does not seem to be any less of a carbon footprint left by cloud centers as would be left by various private data centers. The energy consumption of the various cloud datacenters is a concern to ecologists. Their suggestion of renewable energy sources and small compromises in energy consumption in order to reduce environmental impact has been adopted by some providers, but not by most.

            As with any new technology, there are ethical and legal concerns that need to be addressed. Especially as the technology improves and advances, it outruns the current laws. These concerns need to be addressed, and that is what is happening with cloud technology. As it is being more readily adopted, the laws are adjusting to address the concerns of both providers and users. It will never be perfect, but in all likelihood the main concerns will be addressed before this technology is too old.

Potential Benefits of Cloud Computing

The benefits of cloud technology are multi-fold. As with many advanced in information technology, these advantages span two major categories. The first of these is the benefit to the user; the ways in which the technology makes computing simpler and cheaper for the user. The second realm of benefits is that of efficiency. These are the ways in which the technological advance makes computing itself faster and more streamlined. Cloud technology has benefits in both of these realms and that is what I would like to explore.

            Most of the benefits of cloud technology are in the first realm; that of user benefit. Especially in the realm of business, cloud storage and computing has many potential benefits. First, and most importantly, the fact that data is stored and handled by a third party company means that companies do not need to install physical storage devices such as servers to handle their data (Research and Markets, 2011). Also, companies only need to pay for the data space that they use on these servers as opposed to having to pay larger fees for future usage. The storage devices still need to be placed somewhere, but the burden is removed from the business and picked up by the third party company (Research and Markets, 2011). Also, the necessary functions that have to do with data such as backup, replication, and the purchase and upkeep of storage devices are offloaded onto the service provider (Toigo, 2009). This frees up time and money from businesses by offering all of these services at a one-time cost. In terms of the general public, this offsite storage frees up space on the personal computer and allows for its access from anywhere on earth (Toigo 2009).

            As for technological benefit, cloud technology makes relatively minimal contribution, especially when compared to business and private benefits enjoyed by users. However, there are still major benefits. Most importantly, all data is stored, consolidated, and backed up by one service (Toigo, 2009). This makes data simpler to access in this it is stored in one format. A single storage style and format allows the computer itself to work more efficiently. Efficiency is also helped by the free memory space that is allowed when data is stored elsewhere. All in all, cloud technology has many benefits, which explains it relatively quick integration into the world of business and private computing.

History

While the widespread usage of cloud technology is relatively new, it was originally thought of and described in the 1960s by John McCarthy who dreamed that “computation may someday be organized as a public utility” (Gilmer, 2011). Today, nearly all aspects of cloud computing fit this idea. The unlimited utility that it offers users today is something that McCarthy would have thought a fantasy 50 years ago. The first real step toward cloud computing as we know and understand it today was mad by Amazon.com in the early 2000s (King, 2009). They modernized their data centers in order to be more efficient. They found that a cloud style of computing was most efficient and could be added to more quickly. It was from this that Amazon developed their Web Services branch which was launched in 2006.

            In 2008, Eucalyptus was the first open source platform for deploying clouds. Many other companies followed suit, and cloud computing began to be thought of as a revolution in computing (King, 2009). In 2011, IBM, a major computer and software manufacturer, announced the Smarter Computing framework, of which cloud computing was a significant part. Finally, in 2012, Drs. Biju John and Souheil Khaddaj describe the cloud as a universal collection of data that extends over the entire internet. This is the first time that an official within the field describes the cloud as something other than a service offered by third party companies. This is the way that the cloud is today (Gilmer, 2011). This is only a brief history. As the use and popularity of cloud technology is relatively young, more information is coming out constantly as to new advances and new usages.

Cloud Computing Intro

If you have paid any attention to advances in information technology over the past few years, you are probably familiar with the idea of cloud technology. At the very least, you have heard the phrase. What many people do not know, however, is that they come into contact with this new and innovative technology on a regular basis. Whether it is in online shopping, music, business or online gaming, cloud storage is becoming the new standard with which we organize and access our data, our files, and our media. But what is cloud storage in the first place? Simply put, it is a model of online data storage and computing. Over a network, data is stored and accessed through pools that are virtualized. These pools and storage services are usually hosted by third party companies who store data for a nominal fee (Gilmer, 2011).

One of the best and most well-known examples of a third party company using cloud computing and storage is Amazon.com. Their Amazon Web Services branch is in charge of hosting and data storage for a bevy of websites (Research and Markets, 2011). On the retail side of things, their Amazon Cloud service is used to store music that is bought by users. Those files can then be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. ITunes has something similar with their iTunes Match service. This program uses a cloud to sync files that are bought through apple to all of a user’s apple products. For example, if I were to buy a song on my iPad, it would sync automatically to my iPhone through the apple cloud (Research and Markets, 2011). Similar uses of cloud storage and computing are used by well-known gaming services, such as Xbox Live, as well as by businesses that communicate and share files over a cloud.

            Cloud technology is becoming an essential aspect of how we communicate, access files, and store data. It is a relatively new technology with potential ethical and legal implications. It also has potential benefits to information technology that are still being imagined. This paper will attempt to explore this background as well as the potential benefits and issues of cloud technology in order to help articulate what this new technology is, and where it has the potential to take information technology.