Privacy and Security Issues in the Use of Clouds in e-Health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Cloud computing is one of the most popular current trends in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). This technology allows more efficient computing by centralizing data storage and processing. Due to its tremendous advantages, this technology is maturing rapidly and is being adopted in many sectors including government, business, hospitals, and educational sectors. Information Technology plays a strong role in the health and patient care arenas with cloud computing slowly beginning to make its mark. However, despite the significant advantages for the utilization of cloud computing as part of Healthcare IT (HIT), security, privacy, reliability, integration and data portability are some of the significant challenges and barriers to implementation that are responsible for its slow adoption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When using the cloud for e-health security and privacy issues are most important, these areas should be addressed before cloud computing could be adopted successfully by all quarters. Patients, healthcare providers and other associated organizations are concerned about the privacy of customers’ information and would like to see proper measures to protect privacy. In this paper, the researchers will discuss privacy and security challenges in using cloud computing e-health and available legislations, possible solutions to address challenges related to security and privacy issues in the use of cloud in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.