Crime and Punishment in the Cloud - Accountability, Transparency, and Privacy

The goal of this work is to reason on the complexity of the relationship between three non-functional requirements in cloud computing; privacy, accountability, and transparency. We provide insights on the complexity of this relationship from the perspectives of end-users, cloud service providers, and third parties, such as auditors. We shed light on the real and perceived conflicts between privacy, transparency, and accountability, using a formal definition of transparency and an analysis on how well a privacy-preserving transparency-enhancing tool may assist in achieving accountability. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of the privacy impact assessment process for the realisation of both transparency and accountability. 

Read more in A4Cloud Publications.