Recently a customer of a cloud service had a rude awakening. At the expiration of its contract, the customer asked the provider for a copy of the customer’s data. The cloud provider readily agreed, but pointed to two provision in their contract. First, the contract stated that data stored in the service would be owned by the cloud provider, not the customer. Second, the customer would be charged to receive a copy of its data. In this case, the charge would be nearly $200,000. This real-world example points out the need to be very clear in every cloud engagement that (i) the customer owns its data; (ii) the provider receives only a limited license to use the data solely to provide the service to the customer; (iii) the customer may request a copy of its data at any time, including on termination or expiration of the agreement; and (iv) the copies of the data will be provided at a pre-negotiated price so that the customer knows from the outset all fees for obtaining its data.These simple steps can avoid completely the unfortunate event described above. Providers that refuse to provide this clarity should be scrutinized very closely. Related content opinion Finding Common Threads in Privacy and Information Security Laws. By Michael Overly Apr 26, 2013 3 mins Compliance opinion Ensure Your Data is Securely Deleted By Michael Overly Mar 11, 2013 2 mins Cloud Security opinion CIA in the Cloud By Michael Overly Dec 18, 2012 2 mins Cloud Security opinion Overreacting to Information Security By Michael Overly Dec 10, 2012 2 mins Privacy Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe