Standard Contracts for Cloud Services

Dear Cloud, I Think We Have Trust Issues: Cloud Computing Contracts and Trust

“…For the overwhelming majority of CSP clients, these click-wrap contracts are standardised wholly electronic contracts giving the clients little or no opportunity to negotiate specific terms and conditions. Bradshaw et al (2013) notes three distinctions within cloud computing contracts-(1) free vs paid services, (2) US v EU jurisdictions, and (3) IaaS v Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). First, they note that some terms and conditions for paid services are more likely to be open to negotiation depending on the bargaining power of the prospective client e.g.…”

“…This is particularly evident cloud application and API marketplaces (Paulsson et al 2020). Second, contracts offered under US law have more extensive disclaimers of warranty and limitations of liability than those offered under European Union (EU) law (Bradshaw et al 2013). Thirdly, terms and conditions offered by IaaS providers would seem to be more similar than those offered by SaaS providers (Bradshaw et al 2013).…”

“…For the most part, cloud computing contracts are standard form and click-wrap in nature, with only the largest corporate and government customers in a position to negotiate tailored terms and conditions (Bradshaw et al 2013). As part of this click-wrap procedure and before payment, prospective clients are typically presented with either (1) a scrollable agreement, or (2) a link to a webpage or downloadable agreement, based on the specific cloud service and configuration that they have selected.…”

Your Digital Home is No Longer Your Castle: How Cloud Computing Transforms the (Legal) Relationship between Individuals and Their Personal Records

“…Consumer-facing cloud services are almost always subject to standard terms of service which are unilaterally stipulated by the service provider. 58 Individual consumers are prompted to accept the terms of service when they sign up for cloud services ('Take it or leave it'). 59 This lack of negotiation power vis-à-vis the service provider creates an asymmetry that can be readily exploited by setting conditions to their favour, in particular, to exclude liabilities, limit obligations and restrict clients' rights.…”

“…[A] number of providers of consumer-oriented cloud services appear to disclaim the specific fitness of their services for the specific purpose(s) for which many customers will have signed-up to use them. 62 Not only that the individual consumers bear the security risks of cloud computing that are external to them, but the service provider also retains extensive discretion during the service relationship and of its termination. In general, service providers reserve themselves the right to unilaterally change the standard terms of service either subject to advance notice but in some cases not even that.…”