Future directions towards effective legal regulation of cloud computing

Parry, R. ORCID: 0000-0001-8285-2191, 2021. Future directions towards effective legal regulation of cloud computing. In: Cloud computing: applications, technology and future directions. Nova. (Forthcoming)

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Abstract

Cloud computing offers significant advantages to businesses, as well as public bodies and individuals and it has significantly grown in usage in recent years, with a 2020 global market value of $219 billion predicted to rise to $791.48 billion by 2028 (Fortune Business Insights, 2021). This technology, which enables users to store and access data remotely, as well as to access infrastructure, platforms and software remotely, can offer significant costs savings and other advantages. At the same time there is growing concentration of cloud service supply among a small number of market players which brings with it vulnerability and regulators are only starting to get to grips with what is needed for a competitive marketplace. This concentration of service supply also brings with it vulnerability as service outage can cause widespread disruption. At its worst there is the under-appreciated risk of the insolvency of a service provider, which has the potential to be devastating, even presenting the possibility of a ‘too big to fail’ scenario. The concentration of service suppliers also presents vulnerability to hackers who may identify weaknesses in services on which many businesses, individuals and public bodies depend. There is therefore the possibility of significant damage to be caused to the affairs of businesses and individuals, raising a possible need for greater regulation of this sector. This chapter will consider possible future directions as to the role of law in relation to cloud computing and related services and how this could offer additional protection for service users. While there is an argument that this is an area of shared responsibility and service users should exercise caution and avoid creating potential for single points of failure there are broader public risks that must be appreciated.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Parry, R.
Publisher:	Nova
Date:	5 October 2021
Identifiers:	Number Type 1480609 Other
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Law School
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	22 Oct 2021 15:39
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2021 15:39
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/44496

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