3 ms·

will use AWS data and information against those companies. Aren't there laws to prevent this? Say I am a big retailer - target, aldi or some company at that sc

by akudha 7y ago

will use AWS data and information against those companies. Aren't there laws to prevent this? Say I am a big retailer - target, aldi or some company at that scale using AWS. Are you saying Amazon can look into my database/code etc and learn from it and use that knowledge to compete with me? Shouldn't such a thing be illegal, though it would super hard to prove?

mjlee 7y ago
Even discounting that, you're still giving your biggest competitor money.
swarnie_ 7y ago
Aren't there laws to prevent this? Potentially yes but when have big tech ever played by the rules though. Its hard to name a single FAANG company that hasn't used terrible/outright illegal practises to get to the top.
thawaway1837 7y ago
They don’t need to look into your data to get valuable information. Simple stuff that shows up on your bill, such as the amount of data transfer, the sizes of your databases and how they change, etc is enough. I doubt there are laws that prevent them from doing deep dives into your data but that’s not really the concern. I don’t expect them to do that. However, when it comes to trying to solve problems, create bespoke apps, as a retailer you will probably be far more comfortable sharing the information about your data with a Microsoft rep than an AWS rep helping you build that bespoke solution.
jeswin 7y ago
Even metadata will be useful information and most likely not covered under laws. For example, peak load, usage patterns, spends etc.
Joe8Bit 7y ago
I did some strategy work for a global retailer a few years ago and this kept coming up, they even have a policy that SaaS tools they acquire "can't be hosted in AWS". Their reasoning seemed a bit paranoid, but it wasn't that Amazon would secretly start mining their data there without telling them, it's that this retailer would invest 10's (even 100's) of millions of dollars in tools and infrastructure on AWS and then AWS would change their terms and conditions to allow them to look at/share data 'legally' and the retailer would be so in the hole in terms of investment/technology they couldn't leave/stop them without losing millions. They saw it as risk mitigation. I think it's _incredibly_ unlikely this would ever happen, but if you combine that with "I don't want to give one of our biggest competitors a cent" it ends up with policies like this
- taurath 7y ago
  Amazon absolutely looks at whatever data they legally can, because, well, they’re Amazon. Leveraging their market position to the maximum effect is not only what they do, it’s basically guaranteed.
  - taurath 7y ago
    My comment is sitting at -3 and I'm genuinely curious what people find disagreeable about it? Its a maybe cynical position but I think well earned by Amazon?
- gbersac 7y ago
  Saw the same with French retailers.
scarface74 7y ago
It’s a conspiracy theory. I doubt very seriously that Amazon is going to the AWS department to look at competitors data and that’s assuming a company concerned about security is not doing encryption at rest.

by akudha 7y ago

mjlee 7y ago

Even discounting that, you're still giving your biggest competitor money.

swarnie_ 7y ago

Aren't there laws to prevent this? Potentially yes but when have big tech ever played by the rules though. Its hard to name a single FAANG company that hasn't used terrible/outright illegal practises to get to the top.

thawaway1837 7y ago

They don’t need to look into your data to get valuable information. Simple stuff that shows up on your bill, such as the amount of data transfer, the sizes of your databases and how they change, etc is enough. I doubt there are laws that prevent them from doing deep dives into your data but that’s not really the concern. I don’t expect them to do that. However, when it comes to trying to solve problems, create bespoke apps, as a retailer you will probably be far more comfortable sharing the information about your data with a Microsoft rep than an AWS rep helping you build that bespoke solution.

jeswin 7y ago

Even metadata will be useful information and most likely not covered under laws. For example, peak load, usage patterns, spends etc.

Joe8Bit 7y ago

I did some strategy work for a global retailer a few years ago and this kept coming up, they even have a policy that SaaS tools they acquire "can't be hosted in AWS". Their reasoning seemed a bit paranoid, but it wasn't that Amazon would secretly start mining their data there without telling them, it's that this retailer would invest 10's (even 100's) of millions of dollars in tools and infrastructure on AWS and then AWS would change their terms and conditions to allow them to look at/share data 'legally' and the retailer would be so in the hole in terms of investment/technology they couldn't leave/stop them without losing millions. They saw it as risk mitigation. I think it's _incredibly_ unlikely this would ever happen, but if you combine that with "I don't want to give one of our biggest competitors a cent" it ends up with policies like this

taurath 7y ago
Amazon absolutely looks at whatever data they legally can, because, well, they’re Amazon. Leveraging their market position to the maximum effect is not only what they do, it’s basically guaranteed.
- taurath 7y ago
  My comment is sitting at -3 and I'm genuinely curious what people find disagreeable about it? Its a maybe cynical position but I think well earned by Amazon?
gbersac 7y ago
Saw the same with French retailers.

scarface74 7y ago

It’s a conspiracy theory. I doubt very seriously that Amazon is going to the AWS department to look at competitors data and that’s assuming a company concerned about security is not doing encryption at rest.