One of the first moves towards data localization occurred in 2005 when the Government of Kazakhstan passed a law for all ".kz" domains to be run domestically (with later exceptions for Google). However, the push for data localization greatly increased after revelations by Edward Snowden regarding United States counter-terrorism surveillance programs in 2013. Since then, various governments in Europe and around the world have expressed the desire to be able to control the flow of residents' data through technology. Some governments are accused of and some openly admit to using data localization laws as a way to surveil their own populaces or to boost local economic activity.
Technology companies and multinational organizations often oppose data localization laws because they impact efficiencies gained by regional aggregation of data centers and unification of services across national boundaries. Some vendors, such as Microsoft, have used data storage locale controls as a differentiating feature in their cloud services.
After Germany and France either passed or nearly passed data localization laws, the European Union was considering restrictions on data localization laws being passed by member states in 2017. Data localization laws are often seen as protectionist. Consistent with the philosophy whereby trade barriers should be abolished within the EU but erected between the EU and other countries, the EU believes that data localization should be left to the EU to regulate at a pan-EU level, and member states' domestic data localization laws would violate European Union competition law. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation contains extensive regulation of data flow and storage, including restrictions on exporting personal data outside of the EU.
While both Europe and the US believe that data should flow freely, China has taken an opposing stance and has adopted data localization, but with stricter regulations. This is not a strategy widely used by other countries. Other countries and stakeholders have protested against this Chinese strategy of restricting the free flow of data.
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