Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Navigating data residency and protecting sensitive data (HYB309)

Summary

Mike Davis and Abir Nafa discuss the challenges and solutions for businesses operating under data sovereignty regulations.
Data sovereignty regulations are diverse and increasing globally, with 137 countries implementing frameworks.
Different countries have varying motivations for data regulations, including privacy, industry confidentiality, and national independence.
AWS's digital sovereignty pledge includes control over data location, access, encryption, and resilience.
AWS is innovating with services like Control Tower data residency guardrails and the European Sovereign Cloud (ESC).
AWS Outposts, Local Zones, and other services help customers meet data residency requirements.
Customer examples illustrate how AWS services enable compliance with data sovereignty while maintaining operational efficiency.
Abir Nafa emphasizes the importance of identifying in-scope data and understanding that data residency is not black and white.
AWS provides a continuum of cloud services to meet regulatory requirements, including Local Zones and Outposts.
AWS Control Tower and Service Control Policies help ensure data does not move outside specified jurisdictions.

Data sovereignty is a complex and evolving challenge that requires a nuanced understanding of local regulations and the ability to adapt cloud architectures accordingly.
AWS is actively working with regulators globally to ensure compliance and is committed to innovation in the field of data sovereignty.
The European Sovereign Cloud (ESC) is a significant development, similar to the GovCloud in the USA, providing an isolated region with EU operations and support.
AWS Outposts is a key service for customers needing to operate within specific jurisdictions, offering a managed pool of capacity that operates as an extension of an AWS region.
Local Zones enable customers to deploy workloads closer to end-users while still leveraging the full suite of AWS services.
AWS Control Tower and Service Control Policies are critical tools for enforcing data residency requirements and preventing inadvertent data movement that could violate regulations.
The use of AWS services like Outposts and Local Zones can significantly reduce time to market and provide a consistent infrastructure and software stack for global SaaS providers.
The talk highlighted the importance of separating regulated from non-regulated data and designing systems that can handle this distinction effectively.
Demonstrations of AWS Control Tower and Service Control Policies provided practical examples of how AWS tools can be configured to enforce data residency and sovereignty requirements.