Microsoft Corp. announced on Thursday that starting on January 1 certain of its cloud customers in the European Union would be allowed to process and store some of their data there.
Its "EU data barrier" will gradually be implemented across all of its main cloud services, including Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power BI platform.
Since the EU implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, which safeguards user privacy, large organisations have grown increasingly concerned about the worldwide flow of client data.
The European Commission, which serves as the executive branch of the EU, is developing ideas to safeguard the privacy of European customers whose data is sent to the US.
Julie Brill, Microsoft's Chief Privacy Officer, told Reuters that as the project progressed, it became clear that a more staged approach was required.
"Customer data will be the initial step. Moving logging data, service data, and other types of data into the border as we advance into the next phases "She said. Phases two and three will be finished by the end of 2023 and 2024, respectively, she stated.
In Europe, Microsoft runs more than a dozen datacenters, including those in France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.
Big businesses find it challenging to understand where their data is stored and if it conforms with regulations like GDPR since it has become so huge and is dispersed across so many nations.
According to Brill, "We are developing this solution to boost consumer confidence and enable them to have transparent talks with their authorities about where their data is being handled and kept."
Microsoft has previously stated that it would contest demands from the government for user data and that it would pay any customers whose data it released in violation of GDPR.
