Data sovereignty is a growing global priority. From corporations to governments and critical infrastructure operators, all parties aim to maintain their data sovereignty. Whether the main goal is to safeguard consumer information or circumvent the serious societal risks if sensitive data is intercepted or misused, it all boils down to the safety and regulation of their data.
Around the world, governments have stepped up to protect critical infrastructure by introducing new rules and regulations, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is designed to protect the privacy of individuals across the EU and EEA.
Efforts like this underscore just how important it is to maintain control over sensitive data. This is essential for national security, even more so for building and preserving public trust.
Data sovereignty is the principle that data such as intellectual property, financial information, and/or personal details, which is collected or stored within a specific country or region, should be governed by the laws of that location. It affirms a nation’s right to control how data is managed and flows within its borders, extending sovereignty into the digital realm. Once data is in the digital realm, how it traverses across this realm becomes a critical aspect of this issue.
The impact of data sovereignty is clear and all-encompassing. Legally, it supports compliance with data protection laws and intellectual property rights. Economically, it shapes cross-border data flows, trade agreements, and the competitiveness of businesses in the global market.
From a security and privacy standpoint, data sovereignty should safeguard sensitive information against breaches, surveillance, and unauthorized access by foreign entities. This protection becomes even more critical in sectors like healthcare, energy, and finance, where the security of data is directly linked to national resilience.
As nations and organizations grapple with rising cyber threats and geopolitical tensions, enforcing data sovereignty is not just a matter of compliance, but a critical pillar of national security and digital trust.
When we talk about data sovereignty, we’re talking about a nation's ability to control its data, from where it resides to how it's handled, and under whose legal jurisdiction it falls. This aspect is often discussed only in terms of data storage, with a focus on keeping sensitive or personal information housed within national borders and protected by local laws.
Arguably, one of the most critical pieces of this puzzle in our interconnected world is frequently overlooked: how data moves across the Internet. Data routing is a key but frequently neglected part of data sovereignty. Even when data is stored in compliance with local laws, the way it moves through the Internet can expose it to risks that undermine sovereignty. When data crosses borders or is routed through third-party networks, it can fall under foreign jurisdiction, leaving sensitive data vulnerable to unauthorized access or surveillance.
This is of particular concern for critical infrastructure sectors: think utilities, healthcare, armed forces, banking, manufacturing, and government. These sectors play a vital role in a country’s economic stability and national security, processing large volumes of sensitive information such as operational data, financial transactions, and strategic government intelligence. If that data is routed through untrusted or adversarial regions, it can be vulnerable to interception, manipulation, or theft – creating serious implications for national defense, economic stability, and public safety.
In today’s climate of rising geopolitical tensions and global cyber threats, safeguarding data sovereignty isn’t just about compliance anymore: it has become a matter of national security. Governments are recognizing this reality and starting to take the necessary steps to secure how their data travels across networks, in addition to the traditional measures related to data storage. Yet, for many organizations, visibility into the actual path their data takes remains limited or nonexistent.
Data exposure can occur the moment data leaves a trusted network and enters an uncontrolled routing environment. Without clear oversight of this journey, organizations are at risk of unknowingly violating data protection regulations or exposing sensitive information to foreign access.
Protecting data sovereignty means protecting the full data lifecycle; from storage to transit and back again, especially for entities handling high-stakes, mission-critical information. Without intentional oversight and routing control, even the most secure data centers or compliant storage practices can be undermined the moment data begins its journey across global networks.
The modern world depends on the seamless exchange of data over the Internet. From business-to-business communications to personal and social interactions, nearly every aspect of connection today relies on the Internet as the primary channel for transmitting data from point A to point B.
In the past, critical infrastructure operators often relied on private networks to transmit sensitive data. However, with today’s heightened interconnectivity across the entire value chain – and the growing need to connect with potentially millions of IoT devices – private networks are no longer a practical solution. As a result, many have shifted to using the public Internet, reinforcing their networks with cybersecurity solutions at multiple layers to defend against cyber threats.
However, one often-overlooked aspect of using the Internet as the primary communication channel is the protocol responsible for routing data, aka the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
BGP was not designed with security in mind, which leaves the door open to serious risks such as data breaches, manipulation, redirection, and surveillance. In the context of data sovereignty, these vulnerabilities present real and pressing challenges, accompanied by great risks – particularly for critical infrastructure.
For example, on today’s Internet, it’s not unusual for networks (ASes) to announce false routing information with malicious intent to allow for data packets to be sent out with forged or spoofed IP source addresses. This is called BGP hijacking and can lead to service disruptions, data interception, data redirection, or even data tampering.
A striking example of BGP hijacking was detailed in the 2018 Australian Financial Review article, "Internet data headed for Australia diverted via China." In what some experts believe was a targeted data theft, international data traffic destined for Australia was mysteriously rerouted through China over a six-day period, raising serious concerns about data interception and potential state-sponsored surveillance.
As we know, data sovereignty is not only about ownership and control of data, but it also involves compliance with regulations like the GDPR. Unfortunately, the current design of the Internet provides little control to critical infrastructure operators over the path their data will take. Even under normal operations, data might take undesirable (from a sovereignty point-of-view) path and leave national jurisdictions.
This means that critical infrastructure operators cannot control which jurisdictions their data passes through, putting them at risk of failing to meet data privacy regulations. This is a matter of great importance for healthcare, military, and public service sectors, when knowing and controlling your data paths across the Internet can quickly become a question of national security.
So how do you know and control where your data goes in that kind of detail? SCION has the answer. SCION is an Internet protocol that transforms how data is routed across the Internet, giving critical infrastructure the tools needed to ensure data sovereignty and protect society from disruptions, including those driven by cybercriminals with political motives. Here’re the components that make SCION the go-to-technology for critical infrastructure that wants to put data sovereignty first:
Considering the serious nature of data sovereignty for critical infrastructure sectors, it is high time that all aspects of data’s lifecycle be scrutinized under a “connectivity” microscope.
To truly protect sensitive data and comply with evolving regulatory landscapes, organizations must secure not only the endpoints but also the path data takes. SCION offers a new way forward: one that gives operators visibility, control, and trust in how data is routed, verified, and contained within designated jurisdictions.
Ensuring data sovereignty in the age of cyber threats and geopolitical uncertainty requires more than firewalls and secure storage. It demands intentional, secure, and sovereign routing. SCION is both the strategy and the solution for a safe Internet.