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Cloudflare launches Data Localisation Suite
Fri, 11th Dec 2020
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Cloudflare has released its Data Localisation Suite, with the aim of giving companies tools to control and protect data regardless of where they do business.

Introducing the Data Localisation Suite

With Data Localisation Suite, businesses can use Cloudflare's global cloud network to control where their data goes and who has access to it - no matter what countries they operate in, their industry, or their specific data protection obligations, the company states.

Many countries across the globe are introducing new standards and regulations to address data access, protection, and privacy.

As a result, businesses now need to evaluate and set data controls at the regional level.

Until now, businesses who wanted to localise their data often had to choose to restrict their application to one data center or one cloud provider's region, sacrificing performance or security as a result, the company states.

The Data Localisation Suite helps businesses get the performance and security benefits of Cloudflare's global network, while allowing companies to set rules and controls at the edge about where their data is stored and protected, according to the company.

Specific features of the new offering

With Cloudflare's Data Localisation Suite, businesses of all sizes have a suite of tools to give them control over where data is inspected, regional control, alignment with security certifications and default encryption.

According to Cloudflare, to quickly adapt to changing local requirements, companies need an easy way to adjust local controls.

With Cloudflare's Regional Services offering, companies can choose the location of the data centers where their traffic is inspected.

Businesses can also use Cloudflare's Geo Key Manager to choose where private keys are held, and Edge Log Delivery to send their logs anywhere in the world.

When it comes to regional controls, in this current ecosystem developers need an easy way to build applications that combine global performance with local compliance.

Now Cloudflare is expanding Workers, its serverless platform, with Jurisdiction Tags for Durable Objects to give developers control of where they store data without sacrificing global performance.

Furthermore, as regulations and industry norms shift, standardised certifications can provide validation that businesses are acting in line with their industry.

As of now, Cloudflare meets industry-leading standards for security and privacy, and validates those commitments with third-party auditors on an annual basis.

This includes ISO 27001/27002, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), and SSAE 18 SOC 2 Type II.

Finally, privacy isn't possible without encryption, which is why Cloudflare continuously contributes to the industry's pursuit of better encryption protocols.

For example, Cloudflare's work developing the Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) protocol standard will help protect the privacy of Internet traffic metadata.

Catering to data access and protection needs

Cloudflare co founder and CEO Matthew Prince says, "Companies that want to win globally need to be able to operate within the local values and requirements of different regions, and that is increasingly true as nearly every country evaluates how to address data access and protection within its borders.

“We've always prioritised privacy at Cloudflare, and now we're making it easier than ever for our customers to navigate this shifting landscape globally, and regionally.

Cloudflare head of Australia Raymond Maisano says, “Australian businesses have had to adapt to rapid change this year, and this will only continue as regional data obligations become a requirement to do business here and around the globe.

“Our customers are turning to us to get the flexibility they need to make critical data decisions for their business today, and in the future."