Cooperation between the private sector and law enforcement agencies: An area in between legal regulations

Our main finding is that the area of cooperation between the private sector and LEAs strongly resembles an “area in between” regulations. The cooperation between private sector and LEAs in the fight against cybercrime is “likely to be occurring independently of the actual existence of any applicable or common legal framework setting the necessary data standards and regulations framing this relationship and safeguarding the capacity of the individual to control her/his data as a fundamental right. The potential for misuses and abuses by law enforcement actors and agencies becomes henceforth an issue of serious concern”. In a similar vein, Porcedda rightly put that “cloud computing naturally draws the attention of law enforcement agencies”, but that “data protection laws are not up to the task” (Porcedda 2012, 203, 206 and 207).