‘Cloud computing’ can be used to store client data 
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: December 16, 2010
Tags: cloud computing, ethics
Lawyers may store client data on third-party servers without violating professional rules of conduct requiring confidentiality, the Alabama State Bar has concluded.
The conclusion was stated in an ethics opinion addressing Internet-based electronic file storage and retrieval services. The opinion specifically addressed the issue of “cloud computing,” the storage of data on large servers maintained by a vendor at a different location. For the lawyer, the benefit is the ability to access client data anywhere there is Internet access.
Addressing the ethical obligation to protect client files, the authors of the opinion said that the “duty of reasonable care requires the lawyer to become knowledgeable about how the provider will handle the storage and security of the data being stored and to reasonably ensure that the provider will abide by a confidentiality agreement in handling the data. Additionally, because technology is constantly evolving, the lawyer will have a continuing duty to stay abreast of appropriate security safeguards that should be employed by the lawyer and the third party provider.”
The opinion further states that “if there is a breach of confidentiality, the focus of any inquiry will be whether the lawyer acted reasonably in selecting the method of storage and/or the third party provider.”
Alabama State Bar. Ethics Opinion 2010-02 (undated). Lawyers USA No. 993-2517.
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