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Impediment of Privacy in the Use of Clouds by Educational Institutions

Jawahitha Sarabdeen 1 and Mohamed Mazahir Mohamd Ishak 2
1. Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2. University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Abstract—Cloud computing is considered as one of the technologies that revolutionizing the educational sector. Innovation of nascent interactive and user friendly educational tools and resources helps in the improvement of students’ academic performance. The technology revolutionized the delivery of educational tools and materials shifting from educator-centric to student-centric. The cloud based education spur considerable interest among the students. The technology adoption theories found that students were satisfied and motivated by the cloud-based learning environment and were adopting it as their lifestyle. While the adoption is impressive, the concern for privacy is real. The laws in US, EU countries and UAE are not directly addressing the privacy and data protection issues in clouds. However, the existing laws could be extended to cover the cloud service use by educational institutions and protection of personal data. The major issue in protecting privacy of students and others is the extra-jurisdiction effect of the Patriot Act and Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) of US. These laws give opportunities to the US regulators to access and use private data of various parties in US and beyond for security reasons.

Index Terms—cloud services, educational institutions, technology adoption, privacy

Cite: Jawahitha Sarabdeen and Mohamed Mazahir Mohamd Ishak, "Impediment of Privacy in the Use of Clouds by Educational Institutions," Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 167-172, August, 2015. doi: 10.12720/jait.6.3.167-172