Legal issues in the Cloud: What CIOs need to worry about

How a lack of negotiation, offshoring of data and international law affect your contracts

The inability to negotiate terms of Cloud computing contracts, as well as the offshoring of data by vendors are two issues CIOs should be concerned about, a Sydney lawyer has said.

Speaking at the SecureSydney conference, Truman Hoyle Lawyers partner, Mark Vincent, presented his study of 25 standard Cloud contracts in a snapshot of the IT industry and found CIOs had no idea what their rights are, even after signing on the dotted line.

“Your contract often comes without someone to negotiate with,” Vincent said.

“There’s no-one at the end of the phone to talk to about a contract.”

As well as a lack of knowledge about Cloud contracts, Vincent said CIOs should be aware of the international laws that govern access to data stored in the Cloud.

“Generally, Australia’s jurisdiction stops on the border and for that reason ... there’s a limited ability for the Australian government to do anything about it,” he said.

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Source: cio.com.au
By: Lisa Banks