European Commission wants cloud computing companies to improve contracts

The European Commission wants cloud computing companies to improve contracts they offer customers in a bid to avoid costly legal disputes and allay privacy concerns, Reuters reports.

"The complexity and uncertainty of the legal framework for cloud services providers means that they often issue complex contracts ... or agreements with extensive disclaimers," the EC said in the yet-to-be-released paper, obtained by Reuters. “Contracts often do not accept liability for data integrity, confidentiality or service continuity.”

The EC said in the paper that it wanted to help the industry develop model agreements on issues such as which laws applied in disputes between a service provider and a customer.

Data in the cloud is often stored or processed in two or more data centers and services are sometimes provided through a chain of firms scattered across different countries, making it difficult for dissatisfied clients to take legal action, according to Reuters.

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