Accountability in the Cloud

Accountability is a complex notion used across different domains, for which there is no commonly agreed definition. In data protection regulation since the 1980s, accountability has been used in the sense that the ‘data controller’ is responsible for complying with particular data protection legislation and, in most cases, is required to establish systems and processes which aim at ensuring such compliance. This paper assesses this notion in the context of cloud computing and explains how accountability can be used to help overcome barriers to trust. Furthermore, a description is given of how better and more systematic accountability might be provided.