Data residency — the physical location where your data is stored and processed — has become one of the most important considerations for European businesses. With increasing regulatory scrutiny and evolving international data transfer rules, keeping data within the EU is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s a business imperative.
The Legal Framework
Under GDPR, transferring personal data outside the EEA requires specific legal mechanisms — adequacy decisions, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), or Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs). The Schrems II ruling invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield, and while the EU-US Data Privacy Framework was adopted in 2023, its long-term stability remains uncertain.
For businesses that want certainty and simplicity, the most straightforward approach is to keep data within the EU entirely. This eliminates the need for complex transfer mechanisms and reduces the risk of future regulatory disruptions.
Beyond Compliance: Trust and Sovereignty
Data residency isn’t just about legal compliance. It’s about trust. European consumers increasingly prefer to do business with companies that respect data sovereignty. A 2025 Eurobarometer survey found that 78% of EU citizens consider data location important when choosing online services.
For B2B companies, data residency can be a competitive advantage. Enterprise clients often require data residency guarantees in their procurement processes, and being able to demonstrate EU-only data processing can be a deciding factor in winning contracts.
What EU Data Residency Means in Practice
True EU data residency means that all data — at rest and in transit — stays within the European Economic Area. This includes primary databases, backup systems, CDN nodes, processing pipelines, and support access. It also means that no employee or system outside the EEA can access the data, even for troubleshooting.
Many global analytics providers claim “EU data residency” but still route data through non-EU systems for processing, or allow support staff in non-EU countries to access data. True data residency requires end-to-end EU infrastructure.
The EuroMetrics Approach
EuroMetrics was built with EU data residency as a core principle. All data is processed and stored exclusively on servers located within the EU, with no cross-border data transfers. Our infrastructure runs entirely on EU-based cloud providers, ensuring complete data sovereignty for our customers.
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