The term “data sovereignty” refers to the concept that data — such as intellectual property, financial data, or personal information — collected or stored in a particular geographic location, such as a specific country or the European Union (EU), should be subject to the laws of that location. 

Data sovereignty requirements encompass the legal and regulatory mandates used to exert control by a country or region over data within their borders. Increasingly, these mandates empower individuals to exert more control over their own data. Companies are required to comply with these regulations based on the location of the data.