Microsoft calls for data storage standards

One might insist that data is kept for a year while another might want it destroyed in six months, said Microsoft senior vice-president Brad Smith.

"If that's the case, it's very difficult to locate a data centre in one country and provide that service to consumers in another country," he said, speaking at the Global Services Conference in Washington in the US.

Mr Smith called for new trade rules to ease what he called the "quagmire" of laws facing the information providers industry.