Microsoft exec calls for new rules on data storage

The rules surrounding electronic data storage need a rethink, Microsoft’s senior vice president Brad Smith has said.

According to BBC News, technology giants such as Microsoft, IBM and Yahoo use large data centres to run web-based services and store data such as emails.

Smith told reporters at a conference in Washington DC that the rules on storing data vary in different countries – where one country might keep data for a year, another might demand it is destroyed in six months.

"If that’s the case, it’s very difficult to locate a data centre in one country and provide that service to consumers in another country," he said, calling for new trade regulations to reduce the "quagmire" of laws faced by information providers.