While the relevance of an Opinion of an EU Working Party on data
protection (ie privacy) in the Cloud (Opinion) may not be
immediately apparent to Australian businesses that do not conduct
business or have related entities in the EU, the Opinion furthers
the collective thinking on data protection/privacy in the cloud
computing environment and considers a number of issues that are
relevant in Australia.
Some of the matters addressed by the Working Party in the
Opinion are specific to the EU regulations (which differ from
Australian privacy law). However, there are a number of matters
considered and discussed by the Working Party (eg control,
transparency and security) that are equally relevant in and for
Australia. I therefore commend to you my EU colleagues' alert
on the Opinion
here. For a discussion of the privacy issues arising in the
cloud under Australian law and the practical means of addressing
these issues, please contact me using the email address below to
request a copy of my booklet, Clearing the Legal Fog: Cloud
Computing Explained.
Finally we note that the Australian Prudential Regulation
Authority (APRA), the prudential regulator for much of the
financial services sector in Australia, is sending a team to India
to evaluate the standards of service providers in that country,
which is timely given those service providers' increasing role
in providing offshored, outsourced and now cloud services to the
financial services sector in Australia. There is little detail on
the proposed outcomes of this visit, but it could lead to either an
unofficial or official APRA 'seal of approval' for a number
of specific providers and/or a toughening of APRA's guidance in
respect of governance and security requirements when offshoring,
outsourcing or moving into the cloud. If the latter, the revised
guidance will ultimately need to tie in with the general privacy
requirements of those businesses in Australia regulated by APRA in
the financial services space. At this time, however, it is very
much a case of 'watch this space'! We will update you as
soon as we hear anything further.
This publication is intended as a general overview and
discussion of the subjects dealt with. It is not intended to be,
and should not used as, a substitute for taking legal advice in any
specific situation. DLA Piper Australia will accept no
responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of
this publication.
DLA Piper Australia is part of DLA Piper, a global law firm,
operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. For
further information, please refer to www.dlapiper.com
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
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