{"id":1633,"date":"2011-10-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otava.test\/protecting-data-with-cloud-computing-service-contracts\/"},"modified":"2011-10-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T00:00:00","slug":"protecting-data-with-cloud-computing-service-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/protecting-data-with-cloud-computing-service-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Data with Cloud Computing Service Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3540\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3540\" style=\"width: 174px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3540\" title=\"Cloud Security\" src=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Cloud-Security.png\" alt=\"Cloud Security\" width=\"174\" height=\"121\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3540\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cloud Security<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Data security and intellectual property rights in <a href=\"https:\/\/otavawebsite.wpengine.com\/solutions\/cloud\/\">cloud computing<\/a> are issues that should be addressed prior to signing with a cloud computing provider \u2013 outlining the agreements in a contract will help protect your company and your (or your clients\u2019) data. The terms outlined in the JISC Legal\u2019s Cloud Computing and the Law guide bring up a few critical points that may be overlooked by companies seeking a cloud contract:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Contract Termination <\/strong>\u2013 Do you know what happens to your data when you decide to leave your cloud provider for whatever reason? While a normal contract outlines the duration, renewal and steps by either party (client and provider) in order to terminate the service, it\u2019s important to know where your data goes after you leave your cloud provider, especially if you are storing sensitive information such as health records.<\/p>\n<p>Can you reliably account for their actions after you cancel services with your cloud provider, knowing that they have a copy of your (or your clients\u2019) data?<\/p>\n<p>This brings us to:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Possession of Data on Termination<\/strong> \u2013 The right to have your data returned after contract termination is one key, if not obvious, term that should be detailed in your cloud computing service contract.<\/p>\n<p>Another critical term is the length of time that a cloud provider will keep the data available for retrieval. This can become an issue if a client isn\u2019t aware of the time period and subsequently can\u2019t access their data after termination. It can also be an issue if sensitive data is mishandled after your service agreement is no longer effective and security isn\u2019t upheld.<\/p>\n<p>Leaking or misuse of protected health information (PHI) can mean major federal penalties under HIPAA compliant security standards as enforced by HITECH, and one reason to seek a <a href=\"https:\/\/otavawebsite.wpengine.com\/compliance-security\/hipaa-compliant-cloud\/\">HIPAA hosting<\/a> cloud solution provided by an audited data center operator. A HIPAA-trained IT staff will never access your protected health information.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to ensure your data is protected is to know who controls it, which includes:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who Has Access to Your Data<\/strong> \u2013 As your data hosting provider and in accordance with national data compliance regulations; they should not have any reason to be accessing your confidential information hosted on their servers. If your cloud provider is outsourcing any services to a third party, you should also be aware of their access controls and ability to touch your data.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Deletion of Data <\/strong>\u2013 Another important term of your contract is if and how data will be deleted from the cloud provider\u2019s environment. Do you know if your data is still deemed your property, or does your cloud provider claim the rights after you use their hosting environment? Be sure to outline a permanent deletion procedure with your cloud provider when drafting your contract.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to data control and security, you need to do your part in being vigilant about your <a href=\"https:\/\/otavawebsite.wpengine.com\/solutions\/cloud\/\">cloud hosting<\/a> contract terms to protect the access and right to your data.<\/p>\n<p>Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlinetech.com\/resources\/e-tips\/cloud-computing\/top-5-tips-for-cloud-computing-security\">Top 5 Tips for Cloud Computing Security<\/a>\u00a0for more on cloud computing security.<\/p>\n<p>Sources:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jisclegal.ac.uk\/ManageContent\/ManageContent\/tabid\/243\/ID\/2141\/User-Guide-Cloud-Computing-Contracts-SLAs-and-Terms-Conditions-of-Use-31082011.aspx#2.1._Data_Protection\">New Toolkit: Cloud Computing and the Law from JISC Legal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Data security and intellectual property rights in cloud computing are issues that should be addressed prior to signing with a cloud computing provider \u2013 outlining the agreements in a contract will help protect your company and your (or your clients\u2019) data. The terms outlined in the JISC Legal\u2019s Cloud Computing and the Law guide bring up a few critical points that may be overlooked by companies seeking a cloud contract: Contract Termination \u2013 Do you know what happens to your data when you decide to leave your cloud provider for whatever reason? While a normal contract outlines the duration, renewal and steps by either party (client and provider) in order to terminate the service, it\u2019s important to know where your data goes after you leave your cloud provider, especially if you are storing sensitive information such as health records. Can you reliably account for their actions after you cancel services with your cloud provider, knowing that they have a copy of your (or your clients\u2019) data? This brings us to: Possession of Data on Termination \u2013 The right to have your data returned after contract termination is one key, if not obvious, term that should be detailed in your cloud&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"other_category":[],"class_list":["post-1633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Protecting Data with Cloud Computing Service Contracts | OTAVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When it comes to data control and security, you have to be vigilant about your cloud hosting contract terms to protect the access and right to your data.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/protecting-data-with-cloud-computing-service-contracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protecting Data with Cloud Computing Service Contracts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When it comes to data control and security, you have to be vigilant about your cloud hosting contract terms to protect the access and right to your data.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/protecting-data-with-cloud-computing-service-contracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OTAVA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-25T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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