Cops in cloud control row over crime files

Force could breach laws over data storage

- BY JOHN FERGUSON

POLICE Scotland risks illegally compromising millions of highly sensitive crime files by allowing them to be stored in "hostile" countries, explosive documents have revealed.

It comes as Chief Constable Jo Farrell and the Scottish Police Authority try to move data onto Microsoft's cloud storage systems.

But papers released via Freedom of Information have exposed how the tech giant is refusing to say where the data will be held, leaving the force in possible breach of the law.

Information handed to Microsoft could include personal details of crime victims and witnesses.