EU Residents Stay Away From US-Based Cloud Services
Privacy has always been a big deal in Europe. Now that the United States Government has been criticized for citizen surveillance, EU officials are warning citizens not to sign up with any US-based cloud services. These warnings could have a major impact on the revenues generated by cloud companies that are based in the US.
One of the first warnings comes from Germany's interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich. Friedrich has told all German citizens that have privacy concerns to stay away from US-based cloud companies, but that isn't really likely to happen.
Going Forward With Cloud Privacy
What is more likely to happen will be strengthened security all around. Users will implement stronger security measures, and cloud companies will (in addition) create security systems that are hard or impossible for government agencies to crack into. Additional security measures is a positive thing, but it's not likely to end the war between companies like Google and governments like the US government.
The Internet and government privacy issue is one that has to be dealt with in court. Until that point, though, people living in the EU are being told to be cautions of cloud-based companies – or US-based companies in general simply due to government spying and privacy concerns. In the end, though, governments can simply request data from any US-based company. Once requested, that data has to be handed over – even if government officials have to obtain an additional warrant to gather such information.
EU Residents Stay Away From US-Based Cloud Services: Can Cloud Providers Be Avoided?
Sure, people can simply avoid using cloud-based services for fear of a privacy breach. However, this tactic isn't going to get rid of the problem completely. The fact of the matter is that governments can tap into any company to find user data. If you're looking to keep your information private, the only real recourse is to remove all traces of your life from the Internet completely. Simply avoiding cloud-based services that are physically based in the US is not going to work.
Are you concerned about your privacy when it comes to the cloud? What do you think about the warning that was sent out to all EU residents? Let me know below!
