Title of the Essay, Author, and Date

Do Cloud Ethics Exist? by Emma Kantrowitz (February 19, 2013)

Title of the Reflection

Code of Ethics

First Impression

An essay about whether there are cloud ethics that are followed by those who control it

Quote

  We define privacy as the right to control your information as an individual. And with the cloud, that’s being taken away from us.

Reflection Paper

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.  Cloud computing has been widely beneficial for sharing information and creating globally interconnected networks. It allows companies and consumers to access software and information that is stored remotely on a server, saving businesses the expense of having to install the software on every computer for every employee. While cloud computing has revolutionized the way in which global corporations operate, it has also jeopardized consumers’ digital privacy.  So do cloud ethics exist?  “If these companies can look at my Gmail, how is that different than listening to my phone calls? So it’s really not,” said by Gansler, who is the current president of the National Association of Attorneys General. Deborah Peel, M.D., the founder and chair of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, was the first on the panel to speak. She said, “We define privacy as the right to control your information as an individual. And with the cloud, that’s being taken away from us.”  Ohm said that in order to embrace privacy, companies using cloud computing need to be held accountable to common rules and regulations that have repercussions.

Though consumer privacy and protection laws haven’t yet caught up with the technology of the cloud, they are in the works. With initiatives like Gansler’s and with ongoing expert discussion, it is only a matter of time before privacy regulations are federally protected.

5 Things That I've learned from the article:

1. Cloud computing has been widely beneficial for sharing information and creating globally interconnected networks.
2. In order to embrace privacy, companies using cloud computing need to be held accountable to common rules and regulations that have repercussions.
3. “We think that decisions about privacy should be made by individuals, not by policy. We need to figure out how to do privacy in a meaningful way, with technology,”
4. Cloud computing allows companies and consumers to access software and information that is stored remotely on a server, saving businesses the expense of having to install the software on every computer for every employee.
5. “The inability to embrace the cloud or big data is a brand of dishonor, it means you’re not advancing.”

5 Integrative Questions

1. Why what reasons cloud computing has revolutionized the way in global corporations operations that also jeopardized consumers’ digital privacy?
2. What problem lies in who could be accessing this information and what they are doing with it?
3. What code of ethics of cloud computing if these companies access to consumers’ private information?
4. Where does our personal information goes in cloud computing?  Are consumer privacy safe?
5. Why do our government take first move to draft the appropriate laws and implements to safeguard cloud computing?