Data sovereignty is an important term in the areas of digital transformation, cybercrime and cybersecurity as well as big data and smart data. It describes the principle that data is subject to the laws of the country in which it is stored. This means that anyone who owns or processes data must comply with the rules and data protection laws of the respective country.
In a globally networked world, data is often stored across national borders, for example in international cloud services. Data Sovereignty ensures that personal customer data from Germany, for example, is treated in accordance with German data protection law even if it is stored on a server in another country.
An illustrative example: A German company uses an American cloud provider to store customer data. Despite the physical storage abroad, the cloud provider must ensure that this data is not searched or passed on without consent in accordance with US law - but instead complies with German data protection law.
Data sovereignty helps to maintain control over important information and strengthens the trust of companies and customers in digital technologies and international business relationships.