In the Cloud We Trust

Microsoft News just posted an article by Brad Smith, the President and Chief Legal Officer at Microsoft about privacy in the age of the Cloud.  You really want to read it, it’s about where we are now and where we should be going, and what Microsoft is doing to get there.

If the Sony attack taught us nothing else, it was this: There is no national security without cybersecurity. That helps explain why so many governments are taking action.

I came across the article by a link posted by The Register, which basically called it an ad for Microsoft Cloud services.  It’s that, but it’s also much more.  It’s about Sony Hack, it’s about Snowden, it’s about data residency requirements, and it’s Je suis Charlie.  It’s also about the lawsuits between Microsoft and various governments over data being stored by Microsoft.

Microsoft is taking steps in ensuring that they will treat their customer’s data properly and lawfully.  Smith wrote that Microsoft’s cloud business will be grounded in the following four commitments to “governments, enterprises, consumers, and people around the world”.

  1. We will keep their data secure.
  2. We will ensure people’s data is private and under their control.
  3. We will figure out the laws in each country and make sure data is managed accordingly.
  4. And we will be transparent so people know what we are doing.

Smith goes on to provide some information about the lawsuits that Microsoft has been in and the nearly mystical Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  It’s worth reading.

Even if you don’t care about the topic, but like to see an innovative and clever use of HTML, go read the article.  It’s easy on the eyes and uses HTML5 tricks to make the graphical data interactive and non-annoying.  Go read this and go check out the Voices for Innovation web site..