Microsoft to Let Europeans Keep Computing Data inside Zone

Microsoft is pledging to let Europeans keep cloud computing data inside the eurozone to avert concerns about U.S. government access to sensitive information.

"Microsoft will bypass our current data storage obligations and enable you to process and store all your data in the European Union. We will not need to transfer your data outside of the European Union," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog on Thursday.

Smith added that Microsoft is responding to customers who want stronger commitments on the so-called "data residency", where updates will be applied to the company's core cloud services including Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365.

The company, which operates data centers in 13 European countries including France, Germany and Switzerland, will challenge any government request for an EU public sector or commercial customer’s personal data when there's a lawful basis for doing so, Smith said.

Smith said the U.S. giant, which operates data centers in 13 European countries including France, Germany and Switzerland will challenge any EU public sector government on privacy concerns after this move.

Transatlantic data protection has been a growing concern since the European Union's Supreme Court revoked a data-sharing agreement last year known as the Privacy Shield.

The court said the agreement, which allowed companies to transfer data to the United States under the European Union's stringent data privacy rules, was invalid for not preventing the U.S. government from intruding on user data.