Guide
Glossary
Data sovereignty
Data sovereignty is the idea that data is governed by the laws of a particular country, and those laws decide who can access it, compel its disclosure or restrict its transfer. It is broader than data residency, which concerns location. Keeping data in Australia means Australian law applies, but a provider headquartered overseas may also be bound by its home country's laws. The US CLOUD Act, for example, lets US authorities use a warrant or other valid legal process to require providers subject to US jurisdiction to produce data in their possession, custody or control, even when stored outside the United States. Assessing sovereignty means asking who owns and operates a service, not only where its servers are.
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Example
In a law firm
For example, a law firm acting for a state government agency is asked whether any foreign law could require its AI provider to hand over matter documents. Knowing the provider uses an Australian cloud region is only part of the answer. The firm also records who owns and operates the service, where that company is based, and what its contract says about foreign access requests.
Guides that explain it in context
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