What is Data Residency? Data Residency Concerns for Global Applications

Summary

Global applications can move customer data across borders, making data residency a compliance concern for organizations serving multinational users. The post defines data residency as legal requirements governing where data may be stored and processed, then distinguishes it from data sovereignty’s jurisdictional reach and data localization’s requirement that storage and processing remain within a jurisdiction. It notes that GDPR and CCPA focus on compliant handling and individual rights rather than necessarily mandating storage locations, while China’s Personal Information Protection Law requires certain Chinese citizens’ PII to be stored within China. The proposed approach uses cloud regions to align storage with local requirements, citing Heroku Enterprise Private Dynos across ten regions and Heroku Shield Private Spaces’ PCI, HIPAA, ISO, and SOC certifications; the post concludes that these features can make compliance more achievable while improving control and potentially application performance.

Takeaways

1. 1

   Data residency concerns the legally required location for storing and processing data; data sovereignty concerns the governing jurisdiction, while localization requires both storage and processing within a jurisdiction.

2. 2

   The post says GDPR and CCPA emphasize compliant data handling, privacy, and individual rights, whereas China’s Personal Information Protection Law requires certain Chinese citizens’ PII to be stored within China.

3. 3

   Heroku Enterprise lists Private Dyno regions including Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Montreal, Mumbai, Oregon, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Virginia; Heroku Shield adds features for high-compliance operations.