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perceived cost benefits and the needs of a changing workforce that access shared
resources remotely on a variety of digital devices [14]. Organizations that allow
mobile computing (i.e., any computing performed outside the office using
smartphones and tablets) and rely on the public cloud model are exposing their
organizational records to a number of threats, including unauthorized network access,
data loss (e.g., stolen or lost devices), and a lack of management tools to control
disposition and long-term preservation.
The concerns expressed by organizations that have yet to adopt cloud-based
services share common ground with the issues raised by organizations when
negotiating the service-level agreement with cloud providers. These concerns must be
addressed at the outset, typically through service level agreements (SLA). The terms
and conditions that form an integral part of the contract between cloud providers and
customers can be complex and involve a hierarchy of agreements and policies in a set
of documents including the terms of service, service level agreement, acceptable use
policy, and privacy policy. An individual or organization that has an account with
Instagram may not be aware that the site is a subsidiary of Facebook, who rents data
storage and computer server time from
Amazon's
cloud computing service Amazon
Web Services (<aws.amazon.com>),
which has over 800,000 data servers dedicated
to cloud computing in the Eastern United States, and additional data centers in the
Western United States, Brazil, Ireland, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. In this
example, there are multiple agreements between all parties, numerous jurisdictions in
which the data flows throughout as it moves from data center to data center, and the
opportunity for digital image files to be altered either accidentally or intentionally.
SLA are the first and only place for the cloud customer to establish parameters for
controlling information retrieval (i.e., access), complying with data protection acts,
and determining legal custody of stored records. Unfortunately, for most individuals
and many smaller organizations, SLA are not negotiable; yet, it is a contractual
agreement and thus, legally binding.
The ownership and use of digital images held within the Instagram platform came
under attack in late 2012 when the company changed the Terms of Service (ToS) to
grant the photo-sharing site perpetual rights to all images uploaded to their site for the
commercial purposes of Instagram [15]. The backlash from customers was noticeable
and quickly spawned a number of articles discussing the ownership of digital
photographs (and digital content in general) stored in the commercial online
environment, and by extension, the rights of service providers vs. the rights of
customers [16]. In response to public pressure the company withdrew the change in
ToS.
The findings of the cloud user survey reveal that the minority of organizations that
do negotiate SLA with cloud providers (Fig. 5) prioritize the ownership of data and
metadata. In the context of digital image collections, the importance of metadata
embedded in the image files, as well as metadata generated during activities of use,
management, and preservation cannot be overemphasized. In 2004 the “Survey of the
Recordkeeping Practices of Photographers using Digital Technology,” conducted
under the auspices of the International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in
Electronic Systems: Experiential, Interactive and Dynamic Records Project
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