Forced Localization of Cloud Services: Is Privacy the Real Driver?

Abstract

Mistrust has become commonplace in international debates regarding regulation of cloud and other online services, especially in relation to geographical and jurisdictional restrictions on data flows. The temperature of the debate has risen markedly since the Snowden revelations began to emerge, with suggestions that even transfers within established free-flow regions (such as the EU) should be curtailed. Extreme examples of localization initiatives include a proposal for a German-only 'Internetz', and a new Russian law requiring the use of local servers for certain types of processing. This short paper explores the motivations for such 'Balkanization' moves and considers whether privacy is the real driver for data localization.

Keywords: Cloud Computing, Data Privacy, Data Protection, Jurisdiction, Localisation, Internet, Legal Issues, Personal Data, Privacy