What does the term "data sovereignty" refer to?

The term "data sovereignty" refers to the principle that data is subject to the laws and regulations of the country in which it is processed or stored. This means that if data is housed on servers located within a particular nation, that nation’s laws governing data privacy, security, and other regulations apply to that data, regardless of the nationality of the data owner.

Understanding this concept is crucial in the context of global data management and compliance, as organizations must navigate varying legal landscapes across different jurisdictions. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union imposes strict requirements on how data of EU citizens is handled, even by companies based outside the EU.

The other choices, while they relate to data in some capacity, do not capture the essence of data sovereignty. The ability to share data freely across borders does not align with the legal restrictions inherent in data sovereignty. The protection of data against online threats relates more to cybersecurity than to sovereignty, and the limitation of data access to a specific group pertains to data privacy practices rather than the broader legal implications concerning the jurisdiction in which the data is processed.