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Cisco Expands Data Residency Policies for Webex Teams
Cisco has announced changes to its data residency policies for 2020, expanding its data residency options for Webex Teams. Moreover, Cisco is dedicating its new data center in Frankfurt, Germany, to account for these expansions to Webex Teams. All data sovereignty and privacy will be compliant with national laws.
Data residency control capabilities will now include:
- Messages, files, and whiteboards
- On-premises encryption keys
- Metadata (search, device registration)
- Messaging analytics
Source: Software Reviews Cisco Webex Teams Product Scorecard, Accessed February 7, 2020.
Our Take
Cisco lists three benefits to its residency options. First, these options offer secure and compliant cross-border collaboration. Second, they provide better application performance and administrative simplicity. Third, you can choose where and how your data is stored.
However, it is on that last point where some questions arise, especially for North American users. Cisco is keeping its Webex data residency in a newly dedicated center in Germany. For users who want to choose where and how their Webex data is stored, they really only have one option: Europe. Moreover, Canadian users who don’t want to store their data in Europe are left with only US options – not ideal for organizations that don’t want their data to be subject to the Patriot Act.
As such, if data residency is a concern for security reasons, users ought to check how far they can choose where their data with Cisco is stored.