A balancing act between privacy and innovation

As countries become more dependent on data to monitor and improve their infrastructure, having measures to protect the data becomes increasingly crucial. While the concept of data security contains a multitude of aspects that concern this issue, one area with a heavy focus that businesses must pay greater attention to is the concept of data sovereignty.

It might seem that data sovereignty is not closely related to the security of data within your business, however; as confirmed by Jain, et al in 2016, it does in fact implicate how secure a business’s information systems are.

Data sovereignty is the principle that a country has the authority to control data that is generated within its borders. This includes the collection, storage, processing and transfer of data. This term has been introduced by experts in data security over the years to describe the idea that any country has the authority to govern and control the data generated within its borders. Data sovereignty is important for a number of reasons.

According to Chernyshev, et al, Sovereignty of data helps protect the privacy of individuals. When data is stored in a country with strong privacy laws, individuals can be more confident that their data will be protected. Additionally, it can help to promote innovation. When businesses know that their data is secure, they are more likely to invest in new technologies and services.

Data sovereignty can help strengthen national security; by keeping data within a country’s borders, governments can better protect themselves from cyberattacks and threats.

As established by SNIA in 2022, since data laws vary substantially from region to region across the globe, businesses and organisations operating across multiple regions must comply with each country’s legislation. Taking data sovereignty in earnest shows respect to clients and aids in the protection of businesses from legal violations when handling clients data to avoid information being compromised in any way shape or form.

While data sovereignty can be advantageous for both businesses and governments, it also presents a number of challenges that may hinder the ability to utilise it fully.

As reported by the imperva, The need for localising data is a challenge for businesses that operate globally. This is due to different countries having different laws and regulations governing the collection, storage and processing of data. In the Sultanate of Oman, As of 2002, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) was founded under the Telecommunications Act, which was enacted under the Royal Decree No.30/2002, to liberalise and promote telecommunications services and govern any legislations that falls under the telecommunications sector.

Taking the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman (TRA) as an example, businesses operating in the Sultanate are required to collect or process personal data of Omani citizens and residents in accordance with their regulations which states that there needs to be an established local data centre in the Sultanate where the operate for them to comply with the TRA regulations.

Localising the data can be an expensive and complex process to go through as businesses will need to invest in new infrastructure equipment, such as data centres and network equipment, in addition to an increased cost of hiring local staff to manage the data centres in order to comply with the regulations.

Many countries require that certain types of data be processed and stored within their jurisdictions, which often results in an increase in costs and complexity for businesses that operate globally to establish local data centres to comply with the requirements.

Despite the challenges, localising data can be important for businesses that want to protect their data and comply with local laws. By localising the data, businesses can reduce the risk of data breaches and other security incidents.

International data-sharing agreements are a critical tool for businesses that operate in multiple countries, allowing them to share data with their branches and business partners around the world. These agreements are often crucial for businesses that operate in multiple countries, as they need to be able to share data with their branches and business partners around the world.

Data sovereignty presents challenges for international data-sharing agreements due to different laws and regulations based on region.
If the countries involved in a data-sharing agreement might still have differing laws that would lead to delays and additional challenges in data sharing. If one country has strict data sovereignty laws and another has more relaxed laws, businesses may need to adhere to stricter laws in order to successfully share the data across both countries.

There are multiple approaches to address the challenges posed in data sovereignty in international data-sharing agreements. By including provisions in the agreement to indicate how data is to be handled and protected to ensure that parties involved in the agreement are aware of their duties and that the data is protected in compliance with the laws of all countries involved.

Another way to overcome the limitations of data sovereignty is the use of a cloud-based data-sharing solution. These cloud-based solutions aid in simplifying the process of sharing data while allowing businesses to comply with data sovereignty laws.