Few know about it.
Few Swedish companies and organisations are aware that a new US law was signed in March 2018. The new law - the CLOUD Act - will affect all Swedish companies and their information stored on US cloud services. Therefore, Swedish cloud service Storegate is now offering a relocation grant to Swedish companies that want to move their files home to a Swedish cloud, under Swedish law.
Swedish companies and organisations are gearing up for the new, tougher EU data protection legislation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May. However, there are other aspects that are just as important to consider when a company chooses a cloud service to store, share and collaborate on company files.
On 23 March, a new US law, the CLOUD Act (Clarifying Overseas Use of Data), came into force, which means that US authorities must be given access to data stored on US cloud services, even if it is stored abroad, and that US cloud services cannot therefore refuse to disclose such data.
To meet GDPR requirements, US cloud services have been forced to offer storage within the EU to Swedish companies. With the CLOUD Act, this means that US law applies to data stored with a US cloud service even if it is within the EU and it can be very costly for a Swedish company to ignore these risks.
One example of how Swedish actors using foreign cloud services are forced to deal with this is Karolinska Institutet, which warns its users (researchers, employees and partners) about the type of information that may not be stored in the American cloud service Box. The following can be read on the KI website:
"What files should I not put in the KI Box?"
"Confidential/protected information, such as information that could lead to patents, must not be stored in the KI Box as the agreements do not provide any protection against the application of another country's law. Box cannot contract out US law in this regard. As a general rule, no personal data relating to research subjects should be stored in the KI Box, as it is usually considered as protectable information."
Storegate helps companies move home
Storegate now wants to help Swedish companies that decide to move their business-critical information home to Swedish storage, under Swedish law at Storegate.se.
- We offer our services free of charge for six months to companies that choose to move their files home. We call it a relocation allowance," says Storegate CEO Matz Karlsson, "and it's there to cover any cancellation time from the foreign cloud service and thus make the switch more cost-effective. We will also help those companies who want support in moving their files, concludes Matz Karlsson.
For more information, please contact:
Matz Karlsson, CEO, Storegate AB,
matz.karlsson[at]storegate.com
