In which geographic regions/countries is customer data stored and processed?
Explanation & Context
Explanation of the Question:
This question is asking you to identify the specific geographic locations or countries where your organization stores and processes customer data. This includes understanding where the data resides (storage) and where it is actively used or manipulated (processing).
Why It Matters:
Knowing where customer data is stored and processed is crucial for several reasons. Different countries have varying data protection laws and regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe or the CCPA in California. Compliance with these laws often depends on the location of the data. Additionally, storing data in certain regions can impact performance, latency, and the security posture due to differing infrastructure and threat landscapes. Understanding these locations helps in assessing risks, ensuring compliance, and making informed decisions about data management practices.
Example of Evidence:
To demonstrate fulfillment of this question, you might provide a detailed map or a list of data centers along with the types of customer data they handle. For instance, you could show that customer data is stored in data centers located in the United States, Germany, and Japan, and processed in cloud environments hosted by providers in those regions. Additionally, you might include documentation or configurations that specify where data is routed for processing based on user location or service requirements.
Example Responses
Example Response 1
Customer data is stored and processed exclusively within the United States, utilizing a PaaS provider's data centers located in the AWS US-East-1 region. This ensures compliance with local data protection regulations and optimizes performance for our primary user base.
Example Response 2
Customer data is stored and processed across multiple geographic regions including the United States, Germany, and Singapore. This is achieved through our AWS infrastructure, where data is routed to the nearest region based on the user's location to enhance performance and comply with regional data sovereignty laws.
Example Response 3
As our software is exclusively on-premises and customer data never leaves the client's local network, the question of geographic storage and processing of data does not apply to our setup. All data handling is conducted within the client's own infrastructure, ensuring full control and compliance with their specific data protection requirements.
