digital divide

The digital divide isn't just about access to the Internet.

The Guardian reports that most Internet traffic on the cloud comes from the developed world: "an estimated 60% of such cloud traffic came from Europe and North America, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (33%). Latin America, the Middle East and Africa together accounted for only 5%." Similarly, the rule of law to protect privacy is more advanced in the developed world than in the developing world (albeit with the caveat that the National Security Agency is engaged in massive surveillance that undermines that rule of law): as of this year, 101 countries had data privacy laws or bills in place, but only 40 developing economies have such laws or bills, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian also reports: "The Information Economy Report 2013, released on Tuesday by Unctad, the UN trade and development body, warns that the global shift towards cloud computing, which allows users to store and access data remotely, brings a range of legal as well as technological and infrastructure challenges for poor countries."