Cloud Data Privacy and Information Protection
Cloud data privacy issues are among the key concerns for companies moving to the cloud. In most countries and in most industries, data privacy regulations apply whenever personally identifiable information (PII) is collected and stored. When this information resides in the cloud, it presents a unique challenge because cloud computing resources are distributed, making it difficult to know where data is located and who has access at any given time.
Data Privacy Laws by Country and Region
Cloud data privacy laws vary greatly among countries and regions. For example, the European Union safeguards personal information more protectively than the United States, and Germany, in particular, has some of the strictest laws in the region. Read more about German Data Privacy, China Data Privacy, Australian Data Privacy or the UK Data Protection Act.
PerspecSys has written two whitepapers discussing some of the important data privacy provisions in different jurisdictions:
- International Privacy Laws, highlights and compares key data privacy legislation in major countries around the world.
- German Data Privacy, discusses German privacy regulations and how they affect cloud computing in that country.
Industry Regulations and Guidelines for Data Privacy
Many industries also depend on sensitive, personal information to conduct daily business operations, serve customers, and process payments and receipts. In the last two decades, U.S. federal regulators have enacted strict privacy laws to protect personal information used by organizations in these industries, which include financial services, retail, healthcare, education, and defense. As organizations move to the cloud, achieving regulatory compliance has become a business-critical priority. The PerspecSys cloud protection gateway enables these organizations to adhere to both international laws and industry regulations law by maintaining control of their cloud data in a compliant manner.
