Data Sovereignty
The concept that data is subject to the laws and governance structures within the nation it is collected, stored, or processed.
Definition
Emphasizes that data must comply with the legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks of its jurisdiction—often requiring local storage, access controls, and regulatory reporting. Sovereignty governance includes legal reviews, local-entity data-management policies, and technical enforcement (e.g., regional key management) to prevent unauthorized cross-border data flows.
Real-World Example
A Southeast Asian fintech enforces data sovereignty by storing Indonesian customer data on Indonesia-based servers, encrypting with locally managed keys, and providing Indonesian regulators with on-premises audit-access—aligning with national data-sovereignty laws that prohibit foreign data hosting.
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