The next area of concern is the Kingdoms of Data. If Im a large corporate, then I ensure all the data thats mine is under my control. I might license some out or allow third parties access to controll
The next area of concern is the Kingdoms of Data. If Im a large corporate, then I ensure all the data thats mine is under my control. I might license some out or allow third parties access to controlled aspects of it, but theres no doubt about where it sits and whos responsible for it.
Take the simple .NET scenario I just mentioned. If Im passing information to vendor B, and thus to C and D, and Im being returned an answer every time, then its fairly straightforward to understand. I push out the data, hit the Start button and receive processed data back. But what happens if vendor B starts to store my data for me, so that it can add some value to my process? Lets assume that vendor B is running my stock control for a Just-In-Time stock reordering process. It might keep a running track of my ordering patterns and profiles, to ensure it can always fulfil my orders. The obvious question here is one of ownership of knowledge. Does that profile information belong to me or to vendor B? What happens if vendor B loses or corrupts it and I take a business cost while it rebuilds that information store? Is vendor C allowed to see it too?
At its simplest, if youre using an online diary service, what happens if it loses the data? An email of oh, sorry, never mind simply wont do. If Hotmail drops some email, you really arent in a position to get too upset its a free service and you get what you pay for.
Its this aspect of online service provision that becomes quite scary, especially when you think about the implications of online security. If we are to trust a security service like Passport, its imperative that we have clear and unambiguous routes to make claims back against the service if something goes wrong. Losing your digital persona is going to be a major problem if there arent rectification methods available to you.
As an example, say that I run a bulletin board service and rely on Microsoft Passport to authenticate my users. Lets say that person A comes onto the site and posts a libel against person B. Not surprisingly, person B decides to sue and ropes me into the suit.
I can go back to Passport and demand to know who person A is because it provided the authentication service to me. Lets now assume that person A was an impostor and the real person A can prove that he/she didnt make the posting. Where do I turn to now? Will the laws of Illinois or Washington State govern my business relationship with Microsoft Passport? Will the law of the local land, that is, Australia, cover it? Do I go after Microsoft Australia in the hope that I can prove its the local trading arm of the larger company? As you can see, it starts to get complex very quickly.
Companies wanting to trade and do business in the connected space will quickly realise that they will have to take on voluntarily more liability than their lawyers might otherwise have liked in order to ensure that their service has a chance of succeeding in a cynical marketplace. And how many of these would survive the hailstorm of lawsuits that might arise?