New criticism has been drawn over the inclusion of Chinese company Alibaba in a future cloud storage system for the Swiss government’s data.
The daily Scoreboard newspaper has uncovered documents detailing the concerns raised by Swiss Data Protection Commissioner Adrian Lobsiger during the tender process.
Last summer, the government awarded CHF 110 million ($120 million) contracts to US companies Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle — plus Alibaba with external links.
Lobsigers have already drawn criticism in the media that some of their privacy concerns have not been properly addressed by the government.
On Saturday, Tges Enziger revealed documents to an external link detailing his recommendations ahead of the contract.
Lobsiger had called for strict confidentiality requirements in the deals. These include a requirement that the center must be located in Switzerland or a country with equivalent data protection regulations.
The data watchdog also wanted the contractors to undergo audits and regular checks to ensure their services meet international standards.
Lobsiger is now calling for transparency as government agencies make deals with five companies to store public data. “It should be clear to the public that everything is done in accordance with data protection regulations,” he said.
The government told the newspaper that each department would conduct rigorous data protection assessments before selecting specific providers. It has always ensured that sensitive data is not kept in the cloud storage system.
The cloud storage deal has drawn considerable criticism, not least because a Chinese company was incorporated while Swiss operators were considered frozen.
The media has also criticized the government’s opaque communications.
US tech giant Google went to Swiss courts to challenge its decision to keep it out of tender, but soon dropped its legal appeal.External link.
The Teges Anziger newspaper has revealed documents that detail the concerns of the Swiss Data Protection Commissioner Adrian Lobsiger during the tender process.
Last summer, the government awarded external links CHF110 million ($120 million) contracts to United States companies Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle — plus Alibaba.
Lobsiger has already drawn criticism in the media that some of his privacy concerns were not properly addressed by the government.
On Saturday, Tges Enziger revealed documents from an external link that detailed his recommendations ahead of the contract.
Lobsiger had called for more stringent privacy requirements to be included in the deals. These included a demand that the centers be located either in Switzerland or in a country with similar data protection regulations.
The data watchdog also wanted contractors to submit them for audit and regular checks to ensure that their services comply with international standards.
The lobbyist is now calling for transparency when government departments make deals with five companies to store public data. “It should be clear to the public that everything is being implemented in compliance with data protection regulations,” he said.
The government told the newspaper that rigorous data protection assessments would be carried out by each department before selecting specific providers. It has always ensured that sensitive data will not be dumped in the cloud storage system.
The cloud storage deal has attracted a fair amount of criticism, not least because a Chinese company was incorporated while Swiss operators were frozen.
The media has also been critical of the opaque communication on the part of the government.
US tech giant Google went to the Swiss courts to challenge its decision to opt out of the tender award, but soon dropped its legal appeal.External link.