Over one third of UK universities now use an externally hosted email and collaboration service. According to a recent article, 35% of UK universities use Microsoft’s free Live@edu service, with the main concerns of users prior to uptake being privacy and data protection.
In terms of legalities, UK data protection law requires that information should not be transferred beyond the EEA unless adequate data protection measures are in place. Microsoft is a signatory to the Safe Harbor Agreement, which means that on the face of it, an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects is provided. However, this is only one of eight data protection principles with which UK data controllers need to comply. As with all outsourcing, it still remains for institutions to satisfy themselves with regard to compliance with the other principles and conditions (including the relevancy and purpose of the processing, and the fairness to the data user).
This news will be of particular interest to institutions investigating the use of hosted email service provision. The full article is available from the Computing website. JISC Legal provide free guidance on data protection.
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