Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/130229
CLOUD COMPUTING How to navigate risky skies By Daniela Bassan and Michelle Chai What is cloud computing? Cloud computing is a system where information and/or applications are stored online, allowing access to information/data remotely and without restriction to geographic location. Cloud computing covers a wide range of activities such as storing photos/video online (i.e. Flickr), supporting social media websites (i.e. Facebook), using webmail (i.e. Gmail), storing or backing up computer files and sharing of information (i.e. GoogleDocs). Users of cloud computing technology should be familiar with jurisdictional and privacy issues which are increasingly associated with the storage of data. What are jurisdictional and privacy issues? Through cloud computing, organizations have the option of sending, storing and processing data in convenient ways across multiple jurisdictions. Is- 2 SUMMER 2013 Doing Business in Atlantic Canada sues of lawful access, data permanence and data ownership will affect a company's decision to store data, especially personal data, within a cloud environment. Private sector privacy legislation, at provincial and federal levels in Canada, doesn't generally prohibit the transfer of personal information to an organization in another jurisdiction for processing and storage provided that: • The transfer doesn't entitle the recipient organization to use the information for purposes other than those for which individuals expressly or impliedly consented; • The transferring organization remains accountable for the protection of any personal information that has been transferred and must remain in control of the information; • The organization receiving the personal information provides a "comparable level of data security" as would be required under Canadian