Corporations are Promoting Cloud Computing Because Then the Government Can Easily Access Your Data

Microsoft Admits Patriot Act Can Access EU-based Cloud Data

June 28, 2011

zdnet.com - Microsoft’s UK head admitted today that no cloud data is safe from the Patriot Act — and Microsoft will hand it over to U.S. authorities.

At the Office 365 launch, Gordon Frazer, managing director of Microsoft UK, gave the first admission that cloud data — regardless of where it is in the world — is not protected against the USA PATRIOT Act.

It was honestly music to my ears. After a year of researching the Patriot Act’s breadth and ability to access data held within protected EU boundaries, Microsoft finally and openly admitted it.

The question put forward:

“Can Microsoft guarantee that EU-stored data, held in EU based datacenters, will not leave the European Economic Area under any circumstances — even under a request by the Patriot Act?”

Frazer explained that, as Microsoft is a U.S.-headquartered company, it has to comply with local laws (the United States, as well as any other location where one of its subsidiary companies is based).

Though he said that “customers would be informed wherever possible”, he could not provide a guarantee that they would be informed — if a gagging order, injunction or U.S. National Security Letter permits it. He said:

"Microsoft cannot provide those guarantees. Neither can any other company."

While it has been suspected for some time, this is the first time Microsoft, or any other company, has given this answer.

Any data which is housed, stored or processed by a company, which is a U.S. based company or is wholly owned by a U.S. parent company, is vulnerable to interception and inspection by U.S. authorities.

Last week, Microsoft opened up its Online Services Trust Center which explained in great detail how data was managed, handled and if necessary, handed over to the authorities.

Cloud Computing is Now Main Focus of Microsoft

August 9, 2010

The Washington Post - Microsoft has long been sustained by the swarm of resellers and consultants that peddle its products to millions of clients in every domain, from small business to the public sector.

The software giant's 640,000 global partners account for 95 percent of its revenue, which totaled more than $58 billion last fiscal year. Like worker bees to a hive, they keep Microsoft humming.

As 8,800 partners convene here this week for the annual Worldwide Partner Conference, the Redmond, Wash.-based company plans to deliver a succinct message: We're moving to the cloud and need you to follow.

About 70 percent of the company's employees now work on cloud-related products, said Jon Roskill, who became corporate vice president of Microsoft's partner group on July 1. That percentage will climb to 90 in the next two years.

"Everything at the company right now is going to the cloud in one way or another," Roskill said. Some partners have begun to move in that direction, but "it's time for the rest of them to get on board and come with us," he said.

But some local partners raised concerns that have been echoed throughout the industry about cloud computing, a burgeoning trend whereby organizations receive remote information technology services and software through the Internet.

Stephen Hall formed District Computers 11 years ago while studying at Howard University. The company, which began as a tech squad for Best Buy and CompUSA customers, now consults with about 50 small and midsize companies. He said at times that he has been critical of Microsoft's ability to keep pace with competitors such as Amazon and Google.

"I think that did serve as a wake-up call to Microsoft," Hall said of the competition. "I think (Microsoft was) a little slower than the world would have liked to have seen."

One of Microsoft's stumbles has been in smart phones, where its Windows Mobile and Research in Motion's BlackBerry lost market share to Google and Apple during the first quarter of this year, according to Nielsen data. News leaked on tech blogs at the end of June that Microsoft canceled its Kin One and Kin Two phones just months after they reached store shelves.

However, Microsoft's Web-enabled Office 2010 applications, which Hall has piloted while in beta, demonstrate substantial progress, Hall said.

Recent incarnations of products such as SharePoint, a collaboration platform, and Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing software, are available.

"Microsoft has their offering ready," said Hall, who is involved in the local chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, an independent partner network. "Because of Google and the open source and other vendors, it's made them raise their bar."

There is still a ways to go, according to Al Gillen, who tracks software trends as a research analyst at IDC.

It may be at least another year before additional features become available and companies can easily move onto Microsoft's Azure cloud.