Microsoft is touting that Office 365, its cloud productivity suite, has met several security and privacy standards.

Microsoft is saying that Office 365 has now:

• Obtained ISO/IEC 27001 certification, which means Office 365 has passed an independent audit around security procedures, policies and technologies, and submits to such an audit yearly.
• Met the standards of European "model clauses," which is meant to assure customers that their personal data is safeguarded even if the data is stored in a data center outside the European Economic Area.
• Developed online services to help healthcare organizations and individuals comply with HIPAA requirements.

The company also announced that customers can go to the website trust.office365.com to get information about Office 365 privacy and security practices.

Microsoft's announcement addresses a concern people have about the cloud: security and privacy.

It's also meant to address its main competitor in cloud productivity services: Google, which offers Google Apps for consumers, businesses, government and educational organizations.

Google said in response to Microsoft's security compliance news release: "Certifications help communicate certain assurances to customers, but they only tell part of the story. Most were not developed with cloud infrastructure in mind. Google Apps has secured several important certifications while developing our own security technology specific to cloud computing."

The Los Angeles City Council decided Wednesday to not deploy Google Apps to its police department (though its other city employees outside law enforcement will continue to use Gmail).

According to GigaOM, the LAPD had misgivings about Gmail's security. But, GigaOM added, currently no cloud-based mail service is able to meet the standards of federal Criminal Justice Information Security standards.

Office 365 launched in June and currently 90 percent of its customers are small businesses with 50 users or less, according to Tom Rizzo, senior director of Microsoft Online Services, who declined to say how many users there actually are. Microsoft charges $6 per user per month for Office 365 Professional.

Google charges $50 per user per year for organizations with more than 10 users. (Google Apps for Business is free for organizations with less than 10 users.)