Privacy-Aware Architectures for Cloud-Native Applications: A Systematic Review

Cloud-native architectures have fundamentally transformed application development, offering unprecedented scalability and operational efficiency. However, these distributed, ephemeral systems introduce complex privacy challenges that demand rigorous examination. This systematic review analyzes user data privacy mechanisms, vulnerabilities, and protection strategies in cloud-native applications across major cloud providers based on 36 peer-reviewed sources published between 2020-2025. We identify critical privacy challenges including multitenancy vulnerabilities, ephemeral infrastructure complications, and regulatory compliance complexities. Our analysis reveals that while cloud providers offer comprehensive security controls, privacy-specific mechanisms remain underdeveloped, with industry reports estimating that only 25 to 40% of implementations demonstrate strong privacy protections beyond basic encryption. We propose a layered privacy architecture incorporating Zero Trust principles, privacy-enhancing technologies, and adaptive policy enforcement to address these gaps. Our findings provide actionable insights for organizations deploying cloud-native applications while maintaining robust privacy guarantees.