For new post I wanted to write something about privacy on internet. But when I was searching for material I run into this website: Privacy Rights. Although is American it has some really interesting documents on privacy in new media context. When I was checking their website I run to really interesting concept. Cloud computing.
"In general terms, it’s the idea that your computer’s applications run somewhere on the “cloud”, that is to say, on someone else’s server accessed via the Internet. Instead of running program applications or storing data on your own computer, these functions are performed at remote servers which are connected to your computer through the Internet or other connections." (source: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#cloudcomputing)
For every day use cloud computing is very handy and for business companies is really money and time saver. For example very known cloud computing service is Gmail or Picassa from Google. But the main question for me is in this context risk of this kind of services for regular user. When the user puts their data on cloud site he or she does not have anymore control on this data. The security of data fall on to cloud provider. Some examples what can happen with your data (everything from: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#cloudcomputing):
"Government investigators or civil litigants trying to subpoena information could approach the hosting company without informing the data's owners. The hosting company generally does not have the same motivation as the user to defend against disclosure of the information."
"Some companies could even willingly share sensitive data with marketing firms. So there is a privacy risk in putting your data in someone else's hands. Obviously, the safest approach is to maintain your data under your own control."
And the main problem here is that technology is so much more ahead then the law. This problem has two relevant things to think about. First is the ease with which we use computers and internet. So cloud computing can be rally the good guy. But on the other hand what about our data? How we can secure them and why we are not worried about them. In my opinion today cloud computing is somewhere between good and bad. I think that really is a good guy but only if users know how to use it and be aware of it's rights.
What do you think? Is cloud computing the bad or the good guy?
"In general terms, it’s the idea that your computer’s applications run somewhere on the “cloud”, that is to say, on someone else’s server accessed via the Internet. Instead of running program applications or storing data on your own computer, these functions are performed at remote servers which are connected to your computer through the Internet or other connections." (source: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#cloudcomputing)
For every day use cloud computing is very handy and for business companies is really money and time saver. For example very known cloud computing service is Gmail or Picassa from Google. But the main question for me is in this context risk of this kind of services for regular user. When the user puts their data on cloud site he or she does not have anymore control on this data. The security of data fall on to cloud provider. Some examples what can happen with your data (everything from: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#cloudcomputing):
"Government investigators or civil litigants trying to subpoena information could approach the hosting company without informing the data's owners. The hosting company generally does not have the same motivation as the user to defend against disclosure of the information."
"Some companies could even willingly share sensitive data with marketing firms. So there is a privacy risk in putting your data in someone else's hands. Obviously, the safest approach is to maintain your data under your own control."
And the main problem here is that technology is so much more ahead then the law. This problem has two relevant things to think about. First is the ease with which we use computers and internet. So cloud computing can be rally the good guy. But on the other hand what about our data? How we can secure them and why we are not worried about them. In my opinion today cloud computing is somewhere between good and bad. I think that really is a good guy but only if users know how to use it and be aware of it's rights.
What do you think? Is cloud computing the bad or the good guy?
Cloud computing seems to be very useful way for individuals and companies to increase capacity or add capabilities without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Therefore I would say that cloud computing increases competitiveness of the market because smaller companies can enter the markets without big costs of buying or renting space. Those clouds also include storage services and spam filtering which is at most welcome. So I would say – that the emergence of cloud computing is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHello Tanja!
ReplyDeleteCloud computing is really handy for every day use and especially for business companies. Transfer of data is faster (and cheaper)from day to day and in my opinion companies are still investing too much money on their own servers, data storage, network equipment, applications, and finally for system engineers who manage all these things. Cloud computing is a great thing due to cost cutting, lower barriers for entry, shared infrastructure, low management overhead and immediate access to a broad range of applications. In this sense cloud computing definitely is a good guy.
But you have made an excellent point about loss of control over certain sensitive data and the lack of security for this service. I read that security in cloud computing is often as good or better then in traditional business or private systems, because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford. But this applies only in cases when data are not exploited by the host himself, as you pointed out in few examples. I agree with you that today cloud computing is somewhere between good and bad, in my opinion its use requires reflection and awareness that in addition to many benefits there are also some deficiencies.
Best,
Maja