Procedia Computer Science 00 (2011) 1–10 Procedia Computer Science Looking at Clouds from Both Sides: the advantages and disadvantages of placing personal narratives in the Cloud Lizzie Coles-Kemp, Joseph Reddington and Patricia A.H. Williams Abstract This article explores the nature of cloud computing in the context of processing sensitive personal data as part of a personal narrative. In so doing, it identifies general security concerns about cloud computing and presents examples of cloud technologies used to process such data. The use of personal narratives in electronic patient records and in voice output communication aids is compared and contrasted and the implications of the advent of cloud computing for these two scenarios is considered. c  2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Cloud, Healthcare, Disability, AAC, VOCA 1. Introduction This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of using cloud computing in the context of processing sensitive personal data as a personal narrative. It focuses on two personal narrative examples and identifies tensions that subjects face with the adoption of cloud computing as a platform. Information security architectures typically pressume the ability to erect perimeters, both physical and logical, around areas of trust and control. An institution can control the flow of their information by controlling when and how information crosses boundaries. In the cloud environment parts of the perimeter move to the cloud and institutions must trust the cloud provider for perimeter control maintenance. In this sense, cloud computing follows on in the tradition of de-perimeterisation problems [1]. The main draws of cloud computing include, its configurability, availability and ease of support. Draft-NIST- SP800-146 defines cloud computing as: “a model for enabling convenient and on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” [2], and this definition is echoed in other cloud literature [3, 4]. Draft-NIST-SP800-146 also defines five essential characteris- tics: on-demand self-service; broad network access; resource pooling; rapid elasticity, and measured service. These characteristics are appealing for the provision of services to mass markets that require an element of self-service ad- ministration by the service user, by service providers who require high service availability at low cost, or who have a desire to outsource platform support. Health care, social care and education are all institutions for whom these characteristics are very appealing. This article considers the domains of electronic patient records in healthcare and of vocabulary, utterance and log storage for Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCA). Electronic patient record (EPR) keeping enables healthcare professionals to store and process medical records digitally. With the advent of EPR, there is the ability to “push the boundaries” of healthcare [5] and to use the record to document the health of the patient in any number of contexts. 1