The warning coincides with a prediction from the Cloud Industry Forum that three-quarters of businesses will use at least one Cloud service by the end of December. The SRA's paper, Silver Linings: cloud computing, law firms and risk, concludes that users need to be aware of the risk that information put on the Cloud is more easily subject to government surveillance. But the report also shows that its authors see the positive aspects of using the Cloud.

Consider the risks

Seeking to be balanced in their view, the report's authors say: 'We seek to encourage the development of an efficient legal services market, and regulate based on risk. The [SRA] recognises the benefits of advanced information technology architectures. It is, however, our role to consider the risks arising from such new technologies.' Source: Legal Futures