Data Sovereignty in the Cloud
The most important criterion for choosing a cloud provider – but what does it really mean?
- Transparency and control over your data
- Sovereignty, data privacy and compliance
- Only 11 percent have a data sovereignty strategy - find yours now
Data privacy, data sovereignty and digital sovereignty - which is which?
Why is data sovereignty in the cloud so important? In the digital age, data is the foundation of your competitive advantage. At the same time, the cloud is the central tool for digital transformation. Therefore, it is essential that you maintain sole control over your data in the cloud.
Data sovereignty is just one of several facets that need to be differentiated. Here are some definitions and distinctions related to data sovereignty to help you assess which facets are most important to your organization.
Find out what you need to consider when selecting cloud technologies and providers to maintain full control of your data, and develop your own sovereignty strategy to ensure your long-term competitiveness.
The foundation of digital sovereignty
Data privacy is one of the most well-known criteria for data processing and refers to the permissible processing and storage of personal data. It is a legal protection against the misuse of information. Therefore, one point of reference when selecting cloud computing providers is the compliance of their offerings with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Data protection and data security differ from data privacy and refer to the technical protection of data against theft or manipulation. This can include certain security measures in the data center. Certifications such as ISO 27001 provide information about the provider’s compliance measures.
Control over your own data
Data sovereignty is another facet of digital sovereignty. It ensures complete control over the collection, storage, use, and processing of one’s own data. In this context, when evaluating a cloud provider, it is also important to consider whether the provider’s terms and conditions, such as notice periods, deletion periods or transfer costs, affect the freedom to decide where the data should go. Organizations should carefully consider whether they will be able to switch providers quickly if necessary, or whether they will be tied to a provider for an extended period of time (vendor lock-in). The interoperability of the systems used also plays a role, which can facilitate or prevent a change.
The big picture
The concept of digital sovereignty is completed by the facets of jurisdictional, operational, and technological sovereignty. Jurisdictional sovereignty means that a company’s data cannot inadvertently leave its jurisdiction and cannot be accessed from other jurisdictions. The location of a cloud provider’s headquarters is particularly important here, while the location of the data is less important. The local legislation of the provider could in certain cases allow third parties to access the data (US CLOUD Act), even if the data is located in Europe. Technological sovereignty and operational sovereignty describe the transparent control of all processes and the ability to trace data processing and the software components used. Certifications such as ISAE 3402 provide guidance.
Data sovereignty facts and figures
Only eleven percent of German companies have implemented a data sovereignty strategy in the cloud. Find out how you can keep your data under control with plusserver.
0
%
consider guaranteed data sovereignty as the most important criterion when choosing a cloud provider
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0
%
fear being locked into a vendor due to lack of data sovereignty
0
%
of respondents rate the issue of data sovereignty as important or very important
Take the journey to the sovereign cloud with us
Open source
Rely on open source technologies for transparency, independence and innovation.
Made in Germany
With plusserver, your data is located in Germany and never leaves the country without your intervention.
Multi-Cloud option
Our solutions allow the integration of additional cloud platforms, giving you freedom of choice.
24/7 support in Germany
Even when support is required, access to your data and systems remains entirely within the local jurisdiction.
Audited processes
Our internal processes are traceable and certified (ISO 9001, ISAE 3402, IDW PH 9.860.1).
High compliance
Rely on cloud solutions with BSI-tested compliance criteria (BSI C5 Type II).
Rely on data sovereignty
"Made in Germany"
Trust in the highest level of security in our certified data centers in Germany. As a founding member of Gaia-X and a VMware Sovereign Cloud Provider, we offer you future-proof computing platforms that focus on your sovereignty and innovation.
Do you have questions about data sovereignty?
If you would like to learn more about how to approach data sovereignty strategically for your organization, please send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
