What is Data Sovereignty and How Does It Affect Video?

In 2015, the Bank of Queensland wrote off $10 million on a failed trial of a cloud CRM platform. This was the direct financial cost of their failed trial of the Salesforce CRM system which is widely regarded as the go-to SaaS platform. 

Simply put, Salesforce could not meet the ‘operational and regulatory requirements’ crucial for a financial services organization. With no Australian data center, all Salesforce data is currently stored offshore in Japan. Needless to say, this presented a potentially huge security risk. The result? A massive financial hit to the Bank of Queensland and a major blow to Salesforce, the international leader in the provision of CRM technology. 

This example raises important questions around data sovereignty, cloud security and regulation of data stored in different offshore locations. This doesn’t only affect financial data, but ALL data in the cloud, including video. In this article, we explore the reasons why.

What is Data Sovereignty?

Let’s take a step back and understand what data sovereignty is and why it’s becoming such a ‘hot topic’. According to Tech Target, data sovereignty is “the concept that information which has been converted and stored in binary digital form is subject to the laws of the country in which it is located.” 

When you apply this definition to the Bank of Queensland example, it is easy to see why this creates a huge problem. Since Salesforce CRM data is stored in Japan, it opens the door for Japanese authorities to access all the Bank of Queensland’s data and make it subject to their privacy regulations, which could contradict those of Australia. 

As the data sovereignty definition goes on to say, “the widespread adoption of cloud computing services, as well as new approaches to data storage (including object storage), have broken down traditional geo-political barriers more than ever before.” This has opened a whole new set of potential issues for people operating in the cloud.

How Data Sovereignty Laws Affect Your Video Assets

On the surface, the data sovereignty status of your videos may not seem as important as financial, government, or personal data. But if you use video for internal communications, chances are you have at least one video where you share important internal information meant for your employees, shareholders, or executive board only. While it’s not likely that a foreign government would spend their time spying on your onboarding videos or annual general meeting, do you really want to take that risk?

Bottom line: If you share internal information through your video content, it is highly encouraged that you employ a video hosting solution that ensures your data is stored in your “home” country.  While Viostream’s online video solution is a cloud-based technology, we store our client’s data locally. These are the main four reasons why we believe it’s a good idea:

1. Knowing where your video is stored gives your business invaluable peace of mind.
2. Storing overseas means that your data is liable to the laws of that country, which may conflict with the laws of the country in which your business operates.
3. Storing your video data locally can assist in the prevention of cyber attacks.
4. If your organization produces video content that is not for public viewing, it may be considered counterproductive and problematic to implement access restrictions but then store all the data off shore.
   

Data Sovereignty at Viostream

Viostream is a leading provider of enterprise video hosting solutions for business and governments. Our media management tools, branded viewing galleries, and advanced security protocols are tailored to the needs of both large and small organizations around the world.

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