The iPad debut eclipsed all other IT news over the past couple days. Apple's shiny new gadget made the covers of both Time and Newsweek, and the blogosphere exploded with rave reviews, a handful of shrugs, and everything in between. There are many who are convinced that this tablet computer will soon become a de facto enterprise tool, particularly for business travelers, and there are those who see trouble ahead for IT departments. Let us know what you think.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the news spectrum, a coalition of tech and telecom companies, privacy rights advocates, government watchdog groups and librarians garnered just a couple headlines late last week when they issued a call for stronger, clearer laws on the government's authority to demand private data. The coalition, called the Digital Due Process coalition, set forth several recommendations for updating the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act to reflect new technologies, such as cloud computing, social networking and location tracking.

Members of the group, including Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Google, eBay, AOL, Intel and AT&T, are not concerned solely about preserving the integrity of the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. They are also concerned about the burden that weak and vague privacy laws place on them--the time and expense of complying with law enforcement demands in an inconsistent legal environment.  Most importantly, perhaps, they are concerned about their customers'--and potential customers'--perception of the confidentiality of the data they transmit and store. 

To take one example, under the ECPA, data stored in the cloud is subject to a much lower judicial standard than data stored on a personal computer. To access a document--such as a business plan, R&D documentation or proprietary information--stored on a PC, law enforcement officials need to secure a search warrant. But to access the same document stored in the cloud, officials need to only issue a subpoena to the third-party provider.

The coalition points out that the inconsistent treatment of the same information is an unintended side effect of advances in technology; Congress didn't even authorize commercial activity over the Internet until six years after the ECPA was enacted. The coalition is calling on lawmakers to amend the law so that officials must produce a warrant after showing probable cause if they are going to demand non-public communications content in any format.

The ECPA covers providers of wire or electronic communication service and remote computing service, but any enterprise interested in cloud technologies should take note. A stronger and more consistent legal framework for the government's access to data should be welcome by any business wishing to protect confidential information. - Caron