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Day's of storing E.U. Citizen data outside of E.U. servers are coming to an end!?
Looks like TikTok got fined for storing E.U. pii on chinese servers.
I heard rumors thats U.s.a and other outside E.u. companies will be forced to have data stored (of european citizen) inside E.u.
How is this going to affect the hosting industry?
What do you folks think?
I welcome such policy if it will be implemented.
Thanked by 1nghialele

Comments
So, an EU individual would no longer be able to order US-based web hosting for example…
Unless they don’t plan to host PII data on it. I wouldn’t trust USA servers for anything confidential anyway so long as the Patriot Act exists.
OP: sources/references would be appreciated, thanks.
https://www.ft.com/content/434ee8ff-3567-4a11-919f-976710132674
Ireland dpa fined tiktok 530 millions!!!
Maintain the status quo and regularly fine IT giants such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
This will not affect average Joe. How do you prove that your data stored in X location without lengthy and expensive courts?
Don't quote me on this but I think this only applies to companies greater than a certain size (i.e. where they could definitely afford to store user data in the EU).
@Drv Why would you create a 'tabloid headline' post that is going to mislead people. Next time do some reading or ask Deepseek.
EU/UK GDPR data rules are that data has to be stored in a manner that is compliant with the rules.
It can be stored outside of the EU in any country, and it can be stored with non-EU partners as long as the data is kept to the same standards.
Yeah, but why if I want to store photos with me on US servers, to optimize loading speeds, so I can share them with my grandma living in US?
That would be your choice. The EU laws are about large companies storing personal data in places that aren't covered by "safe harbour" agreements, which I think covers the US, UK and some other countries, (but definitely not China).
But to answer the OP's question, it's a huge opportunity for the Hosting industry because it challenges the monopolies of the American giants like Amazon and Google. This specific law isn't new, but the trend for Europeans onshoring their services is, (since Trump), and it's creating a boom for European providers.
This somewhat makes sense in my opinion; it's an economic war after all. EU wants to sponsor its datacenters and its servers by forcing companies to host data in EU, while also not trusting other countries or governments.
Is it fair? No.
Is it morally correct? No.
Is it likely to help EU economy? Yes.
GDPR doesn't apply when you use data for personal use such as sharing photos with family and friends. You can also share it privately on social media, but as soon as you share it publicly you will be considered a controller.
Doesn't matter what the size of the company is, GDPR applies to all companies. Large companies employing 250 or more people have an obligation of detailed record keeping of their processing activities. Smaller companies are exempt from that but only under specific circumstances and in many cases detailed record keeping is also required of smaller companies.
There are adequacy decisions for some countries including US, but US is a bit specific. All the deals with US have been so far struck down by the CJEU and the current one will also be challenged in court but that takes years. Current deal was made by Ursula and Joe and it's not based on any codified law but it's more of a pinky swear. True, any US president can throw that deal in the trash on a whim and the deal is killed instantly.
I think the trusting part is completely valid when you consider the numerous allegations made about the NSA, Five Eyes, etc. spying on their own citizens. I don’t want to get conspiratorial (and I am not qualified to speak on this matter) but I think it’s too narrow to say it’s solely because of economics.
Canada requires all citizen medical records to be stored in Canadian servers only (either Canadian host or Canadian soil or both). And there are many theories floating around on why OVH restricts purchasing USA servers strictly on their (crippled) USA subsidiary.
I am not sure if I understand. If I store my own personal data, not other people's on US servers, will that be OK or not?
Yes. One could go into conspiracy and also say it is all used to control population. You might be right. I am just trying to see the bright side of it, even though they make it extremely hard to see it. I must try to believe it is just economics, even though I am seething inside.
You may store your data wherever you want, for now. Companies though will likely be forced to store data of EU customers inside EU.
This will likely increase demand for EU-based servers. Good for privacy, but might raise costs for global companies.
That would definitely shake up the industry. Hosting providers will need to quickly adapt to new infrastructure and stricter compliance demands. I can see VPN usage increasing as well, especially for companies handling remote access or needing to bypass data locality rules. Interesting times ahead for cloud services.