Cloud Storage Faces Regulator Price Probe

The cloud storage industry is to face regulatory scrutiny following complaints about price rises and storage capacity reductions.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had opened a review on the sector, which offers digital data storage space for things like personal files, music, videos and photos in return for a fee.

It is believed that 40% of UK adults use such services - to free up memory space on a device such as a laptop or smartphone.

A wealth of companies now offer such services - with providers varying from well-known major tech firms to small independents.

The CMA said it had received reports about consumers "being surprised by significant price increases and by reductions to unlimited storage capacity deals after contracts have been agreed".

The watchdog also said it would examine concerns about the loss or deletion of some consumers’ data as part of its effort to determine whether the law had been broken or further action was warranted.

Senior director within its consumer division, Nisha Arora, said: "Cloud storage is a dynamic and growing sector which is already highly valued by consumers.

"We want to hear from business, interested organisations and consumers about their experiences, to assess whether companies understand and comply with consumer law and whether cloud storage services are working well for consumers as a result.

"If our review finds breaches of consumer protection laws we will take further action to address these, which could include enforcement action using our consumer law powers, seeking voluntary change from the sector or providing guidance to business or consumers."

The CMA said interested parties had until 15 January to respond to the review.