Cloud Communications

Study Shows European Regulations Slow Growth of Cloud

By Erin Harrison Executive Editor, Cloud Computing

While the cloud is widely used among businesses, it is still largely misunderstood. Consider some of thelatest statistics as evidence; 51 percent of American adults believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing, and one in five Americans admit that they’ve pretended to know what the cloud is or how it works.

Another survey puts these results in perspective. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) found that worldwide, including the U.S., only 34 percent of consumers are using the cloud. And when just Europe is considered, cloud usage is much lower, closer to 24 percent of people. 65 percent of Europeans say that they have never heard of “the cloud.”

 “Unfortunately, most computer users in the EU have little understanding of cloud computing and have not yet moved to capitalize on the opportunities cloud computing offers,” said Robert Holleyman, president of the BSA.

Among the survey’s other findings, in Europe, currently the four top uses for cloud computing are:

•     79 percent – E-mail

•     36 percent – Online word processing

•     45 percent – Photo storage

•     35 percent – Games

Regulations in European countries is slowing the growth of the technology, according to Holleyman.

“The true benefits of cloud computing come with scale. In a global economy, you should be able to get the technology you need for personal or business use from servers located anywhere in the world,” he said. “But that requires laws and regulations that let data flow easily across borders. Right now, too many countries have too many different rules standing in the way of the kind of trade in digital services we really need.”

In related news, Facebook (News - Alert) will soon stop an automated photo-tagging feature in Europe and will eliminate a database, which shows the photos of millions of Europeans, TMCnet’s Ed Silverstein recently reported.

The controversial facial-recognition tool suggests when users could be tagged in photos – and Facebook was under intense pressure to at least change the program.

The tool will be turned off by Oct. 15 for European users, and will not be available to any new users in the region. There were many concerns expressed in Europe – especially from government regulators – because the facial-recognition offering may have violated privacy rights.

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