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work to ensure data is “live” only when the user is “live” on the network:
they stress that the “liveness” of data online, linked to the ‘input of the live
user, ties decisions about stored online data to an individual’ (2014, p. 6).
Stark and Tierney (2014) also detail cases where service providers track
user information and use this for their own benefit and that of third parties, without the explicit permission or knowledge of users, highlighting
that service providers may readily access user data and may also release
such data to external agencies.
However, recent governmental policy decisions incorporate focus on
such matters e.g. the UK Government’s Data Ethics Framework ‘sets out
clear principles for how data should be used…It will help [organisations]
maximise the value of data whilst also setting the highest standards for
transparency and accountability when building or buying new data technology’ (The Centre for Information Policy Leadership 2018, p. 19). This
framework for data ethics is in line with the fact that ‘the principle that
personal data should be processed only in ways compatible with the specific purpose(s) for which they were collected is essential to respecting
individuals’ legitimate expectations’ (European Data Protection Supervisor
2015, p. 10), thus confirming the idea that regulation should be ethically
aware and informed, so that a human-centric use of data would be the
only viable possibility.
6.3.2 The Ethics of Providers of Cloud Computing Services
The exploration of ethical and regulatory issues pertinent to data in cloud
computing highlights how different stakeholders may have different
vested interests in cloud computing and consequently encounter different
kinds of ethical issues. Both cloud computing providers and cloud computing users are central to the discussion. Cloud computing providers may
be regarded as those who offer cloud-based services and solutions to businesses and/or individuals. They provide virtual hardware, software, infrastructure and other related services. In turn, a cloud user may be regarded
as someone who is available to (or who, lacking personal computing
resources, necessarily needs to) surrender some control of the data he or
she inputs in a system, on the basis that the user can trust the system itself.
For the cloud provider-user relationship to operate effectively, it is critical that cloud providers maintain the trust of users: when a user does not
trust the system, he or she is less inclined to expose his or her vulnerability
to the system and thereby less inclined to engage with it. The theme of
B. MURPHY AND M. ROCCHI
work to ensure data is “live” only when the user is “live” on the network:
they stress that the “liveness” of data online, linked to the ‘input of the live
user, ties decisions about stored online data to an individual’ (2014, p. 6).
Stark and Tierney (2014) also detail cases where service providers track
user information and use this for their own benefit and that of third parties, without the explicit permission or knowledge of users, highlighting
that service providers may readily access user data and may also release
such data to external agencies.
However, recent governmental policy decisions incorporate focus on
such matters e.g. the UK Government’s Data Ethics Framework ‘sets out
clear principles for how data should be used…It will help [organisations]
maximise the value of data whilst also setting the highest standards for
transparency and accountability when building or buying new data technology’ (The Centre for Information Policy Leadership 2018, p. 19). This
framework for data ethics is in line with the fact that ‘the principle that
personal data should be processed only in ways compatible with the specific purpose(s) for which they were collected is essential to respecting
individuals’ legitimate expectations’ (European Data Protection Supervisor
2015, p. 10), thus confirming the idea that regulation should be ethically
aware and informed, so that a human-centric use of data would be the
only viable possibility.
6.3.2 The Ethics of Providers of Cloud Computing Services
The exploration of ethical and regulatory issues pertinent to data in cloud
computing highlights how different stakeholders may have different
vested interests in cloud computing and consequently encounter different
kinds of ethical issues. Both cloud computing providers and cloud computing users are central to the discussion. Cloud computing providers may
be regarded as those who offer cloud-based services and solutions to businesses and/or individuals. They provide virtual hardware, software, infrastructure and other related services. In turn, a cloud user may be regarded
as someone who is available to (or who, lacking personal computing
resources, necessarily needs to) surrender some control of the data he or
she inputs in a system, on the basis that the user can trust the system itself.
For the cloud provider-user relationship to operate effectively, it is critical that cloud providers maintain the trust of users: when a user does not
trust the system, he or she is less inclined to expose his or her vulnerability
to the system and thereby less inclined to engage with it. The theme of
B. MURPHY AND M. ROCCHI