CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002)Data Governance, Quality and ControlsMedium
A multinational retailer operates cloud infrastructure in several countries. To comply with a European regulation requiring that personal data of EU citizens be stored and processed on servers physically located within the European Union, the company configures its cloud provider to restrict EU customer data to EU-based data centers only. Which concept does this requirement illustrate?
- AData governance
- BData lineage
- CData retention
- DData sovereignty
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Data sovereignty
Data sovereignty refers to the principle that data is subject to the laws of the country in which it is physically located or collected, often requiring that data remain within specific geographic or jurisdictional boundaries. Restricting EU data to EU data centers directly addresses this legal requirement.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Data governance is the broader framework of policies and roles managing data assets, not specifically about geographic storage laws.
- B. Data lineage tracks data's origin and transformations, unrelated to physical storage location.
- C. Data retention concerns how long data is kept, not where it is physically stored.
Data Sovereignty
The principle that data is subject to the laws and governance structures of the country or jurisdiction in which it is collected or stored.
- Often drives requirements for data residency/localization
- Common in GDPR and similar cross-border data laws
- Distinct from data governance, which is an internal management framework
Memory trick: Sovereignty=law of the land, Residency=where it lives, Localization=must stay local