Amazon Web Services Launches Independent European Cloud as Calls for Data Sovereignty Grow

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The Amazon Web Services logo successful  beforehand   of a server room.Image: Stack Commerce

Amazon Web Services has launched an autarkic unreality for Europe designed for nationalist assemblage customers and companies operating successful highly regulated industries wrong the European Union. The AWS Sovereign Cloud volition run some “physically and logically” abstracted from AWS’s existing unreality regions and has been engineered specifically to conscionable the information residency and regulatory requirements of European customers.

The caller work volition connection European customers much granular power implicit their information arsenic good arsenic greater operational autonomy, with a cardinal facet being that lone Europe-based Amazon unit volition beryllium capable to negociate and supply enactment for the platform.

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud volition motorboat its archetypal supported portion successful Germany and volition beryllium disposable to each European AWS customers; AWS didn’t connection an nonstop timeline for the rollout.

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Europe’s propulsion for information sovereignty

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud volition alteration European customers to support each their metadata wrong the EU and volition adjacent travel with its ain billing and usage metering systems, AWS said.

The motorboat comes arsenic the EU makes a concerted propulsion towards “data sovereignty,” whereby information belonging to European companies and citizens remains nether the EU’s jurisdiction and conforms to the bloc’s strict information extortion standards.

This includes the General Data Protection Regulation, Europe’s foremost information privateness and extortion authorities that mandates stringent controls implicit the collection, retention and processing of idiosyncratic information belonging to EU residents.

DOWNLOAD: EU GDPR Compliance Checklist from TechRepublic Premium

“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud reinforces our committedness to offering AWS customers the astir precocious acceptable of sovereignty controls, privateness safeguards, and information features disposable successful the cloud,” Max Peterson, vice president of Sovereign Cloud astatine AWS, said successful a property release.

“With this caller offering, customers and Partners crossed Europe volition person much prime to execute the operational independency they require, without compromising connected the broadest and deepest unreality services that millions of customers already cognize and usage today,” noted Peterson successful the property release.

AI and displacement to nationalist unreality exacerbate information concerns

As businesses displacement much of their operations to nationalist unreality platforms, the EU has go progressively acrophobic astir the retention of delicate information connected servers controlled by non-European entities, arsenic good arsenic the dominance of definite U.S.-based companies successful Europe’s unreality market.

The request for immoderate unreality functions to transportation information successful and retired of the EU has heightened these concerns, peculiarly the conception that entities extracurricular of the EU mightiness beryllium gaining unauthorized entree to information belonging to European customers.

In a akin vein, the EU is besides seeking to propulsion done broad authorities astir the adoption and usage of artificial quality successful Europe successful an effort to support tabs connected however information is gathered and utilized by AI systems and support citizens against perchance harmful effects.

Tech giants pressured to appease EU policymakers

AWS isn’t the archetypal large tech institution to motorboat a unreality work designed to appease the information concerns of EU regulators and policymakers, who are putting unit connected U.S.-based tech and bundle giants to conform with Europe’s caller Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act.

Last year, Microsoft launched Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, an integrated unreality work designed for nationalist assemblage customers with region-specific information governance requirements, with EU customers successful mind.

Microsoft besides announced a acceptable of European Cloud Principles successful May 2022 successful effect to concerns and criticisms regarding its bundle licensing practices, successful which it affirmed its “focus connected providing unreality offerings that conscionable European authorities sovereign needs successful concern with section trusted exertion providers.”

Likewise, Salesforce launched its somewhat elaborately named Hyperforce EU Operating Zone successful March 2023. This is simply a unreality level for companies operating nether EU regulations that necessitate stricter controls implicit the access, power and usage of their data.

Cybersecurity agencies invited EU unreality independence

AWS customers and partners that person signed up for the dedicated unreality see a fig of German authorities agencies, including the German Federal Office for Information Security and German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, arsenic good arsenic the Czech Republic’s National Cyber and Information Security Agency, the National Cyber Security Directorate of Romania, bundle institution SAP and the nonrecreational services and consulting outfits Accenture and Deloitte.

Tomas Krejci, lawman manager of the NÚKIB, said successful the property merchandise that the taxable of information sovereignty and residency was “at the forefront of European and nationalist information debates” and that the motorboat of an autarkic European unreality would “provide much heavy regulated organizations, specified arsenic those successful the nationalist assemblage with an oculus connected evolving regulation, much prime successful their integer sovereignty strategy.”

Meanwhile, Dan Cimpean, manager of Romania’s National Cyber Security Directorate, said successful the property merchandise the AWS European Sovereign Cloud would “help nationalist and backstage organizations (in) navigating stringent regulatory requirements to accelerate their modulation to the unreality portion improving innovation and information information for the payment of European citizens.”

Customers with circumstantial needs for information isolation and in-country residency volition beryllium capable to marque further usage of AWS Outposts and AWS Local Zones, AWS said.

AWS Outposts bring AWS services straight to on-premises locations, ensuring accordant operations betwixt section and unreality environments, whereas AWS Local Zones are specialized setups placed successful customer-chosen locations that trim the complexity of managing on-premises infrastructure.

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