On Wednesday 1 May 2013, Matheson hosted and sponsored an event called ‘Law and regulation as we move to the Cloud‘. The event was chaired by John O’Connor, Head of the Technology and Commercial Contracts Group at Matheson. Professor Ian Walden, Professor of Information and Communications Law, Queen Mary, University of London also spoke at the event, which was attended mainly by in-house lawyers working in the IT and financial services industries and the Irish public sector and lawyers working in private practice.
Professor Ian Walden’s presentation focused on trends in cloud contracting, in particular how standard cloud contracts are evolving, the key issues involved in negotiating cloud deals, whether an appropriate regulatory balance can be struck between cloud provider and cloud client interests and the legal consequences of security breaches regarding data held in the cloud. Professor Walden also spoke about the implications of storage of data in Europe, the USA and other jurisdictions and concerns about the USA’s Patriot Act and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties in cloud computing.
John O’Connor’s presentation focused on the contractual, legal and regulatory issues which need to be carefully considered when navigating cloud contracts including making informed decisions based on an understanding of the cloud service and service levels. John also challenged some of the common misconceptions around cloud and its relationship with data protection and financial services regulations.
John O’Connor is a partner at Matheson: www.matheson.com
