Cloud computing for s-health and the data protection challenge: Getting ready for the General Data Protection Regulation

The recently approved General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will change deeply the European privacy framework. Despite the aim of updating the legislative provisions to the challenges of the information society, the GDPR leaves open serious questions and shortcomings, especially in the context of cloud computing for s-health. The purpose of the paper is twofold: after having outlined the major innovations of the new GDPR for ensuring data protection in cloud environments, paying particular attention to the processing in the healthcare sector, the main unresolved issues will be critically addressed.