Today, there are several regulations to comply with, not least European legislation such as GDPR, but also American regulations such as the CLOUD Act, Fisa702 and Privacy Shield’s invalidation of information storage. Although American cloud services offer storage within the EU to Swedish companies, it is incredibly difficult for them to meet the requirements of the GDPR. Why is that? Well, let us briefly explain.
- CLOUD Act
Via the US law CLOUD Act US authorities have access to data stored on US cloud services, even if it is stored in the EU. US companies are therefore obliged to disclose your personal data under this law. - Privacy Shield
The Data Protection Agreement previously allowed transfers of EU citizens’ personal data to the US. However, the agreement is now invalidated and the ruling means that it is no longer allowed to transfer personal data of EU citizens to US-owned cloud services. For example, it is not legal to process personal data in US-owned cloud services, such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Onedrive. - FISA 702
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which allows US authorities to conduct electronic surveillance and access data stored in US cloud services. Most Swedish companies and organizations have procedures to comply with EU legislation on the handling of personal data (GDPR). However, given the state of the world today, these points are at least as important to consider when a company chooses a cloud service to store, share and collaborate with digital information.
Plan for the long term and think carefully about your choice of cloud infrastructure before you start moving. So choose a fully European cloud service provider that offers data centers in the EU and is also GDPR compliant. This way, you don’t have to worry about foreign legislation and its possible impact, or the risk of your data being shared to third countries. By using a Swedish cloud service, your information is completely safe. We at Storegate are a Swedish alternative in the European market and with our cloud infrastructure you are not affected by foreign laws that change over time.
