The Globe and Mail is carrying a very interesting story on the dilemma the U.S. Patriot Act is causing customers of hosted solutions. The article outlines privacy issues whenever a U.S. based corporation maintains customer data and that data, through the U.S. Patriot Act, becomes available to the U.S. authorities.
This applies to remote desktops and the file servers or SANs that serve them.
As a Canadian-based managed solutions provider, we have already been asked by our U.S. Customers to maintain separate servers in our Canadian datacenters to appease Canadian customers who refuse to have their data travel to the U.S. and be at risk of being divulged through the Patriot Act. This is not a question of preference or unlawful activity, the U.S. Patriot Act is at odds with Canada’s privacy laws which require organizations to protect private information, and requires that they inform individuals when their data has been shared.
The article truly outlines a very current dilemma for providers of remote desktops and Terminal Services.