A lack of adequate governance surrounds cyber activities and control of the internet moving into the hands of national governments. But that could be good for business, according to an audit firm.
Stephen Bonner, a partner in KPMG’s Information Protection and Business Resilience team, says: “With internet governance and surveillance the hot topic of the moment, questions should be asked about the rationale behind how and why authoritarian – and democratic – governments control the information their citizens can access online. Until now, a number of organisations have shared responsibility for the governance of the Internet, like US based ICANN, but a shift in trust looks set to bring change. EU citizens and companies are increasingly seeking EU based services rather than US headquartered or hosted services as a reaction to recent NSA spying exposés – the recent news about the ‘Swiss cloud’, that is free from NSA’s reach, comes to mind as a good example. This disposition and the rejection of standards from across the Pond could definitely be great for the EU, but bad for business for the US.
“The US has been at the cutting edge of setting core standards, having helped develop many of the approaches in the first place. This advantage has meant that the US was best placed to innovate at a local level and excel in academic research. The change in mood, however, could mean that the next generation of Internet rules and regulations probably won’t come from US headquartered organisations, but more so from trusted EU entities.
“To some extent, the very well being of the nation that these spies were charged with protecting is at risk, through their actions as an economic power. The question this brings forward is, will the EU set the right parameters on privacy to capture the next wave of Internet technologies or will the US Internet giants be able to force the hand of their government to restore trust?”
