Data residency is a hot topic, especially for cloud data. The reason is multi-faceted, but the focus has been driven by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs information privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area.
The GDPR defines the requirement that users’ personal data and privacy be adequately protected by organizations that gather, process and store that data. After the GDPR rolled out, other countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the UAE enacted data protection legislation of their own.
What this means is that data privacy is a continuing concern, and the pressure being placed upon entities through legislation is increasing. For organizations generating, collecting and storing data, the need for a solution to address the problem, especially in the cloud, is urgent.
If compliance with data privacy and protection isn’t assured, the risks and penalties could become overwhelming. For instance, in May 2023, Facebook parent Meta was ordered to pay a record $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) to the European Union for failing to adhere to the GDPR.
This is obviously a huge fine. Even if the amount of the fine is reduced before it’s finalized, the precedent has been set and serves as a wake-up call for every enterprise to ensure data protection and privacy.
What is data residency?
Three terms fit under the data residency umbrella: data residency, data localization and data sovereignty. A brief explanation for each follows:
Data residency – Data residency is the physical or geographical location of an organization’s data. Under data privacy laws like the GDPR, organizations may be required to store certain data within the country or region where it is collected.
Data localization – Data localizat ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
