Microsoft has promised to allow EU clients to store data in a block

US software giant Microsoft is committed to allowing public and corporate customers in the European Union (EU) to store their data through cloud services within a 27-member block. It wants to avoid concerns about the US government's access to sensitive information. Microsoft "will go beyond our existing data storage commitments and allow you to process and store all your data in the EU," said Brad Smith, president of the US technology giant. "In other words, we will not have to move your data outside the EU," he wrote in a blog post on Thursday. According to Smith, Microsoft is responding to customers who demand stricter obligations in the area of ​​so-called data residence. The updates will cover the company's core cloud services, including Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365. Transatlantic data protection has been a growing concern since the EU Supreme Court last year ruled that an agreement known as the Privacy Shield, which allowed companies to transfer data to the US, was invalid. According to the court, the agreement did not go far enough to prevent the US government from accessing European users' data. Microsoft operates data centers in 13 European countries, including France, Germany, and Switzerland. The US giant added that it would defy any government's request for European commercial or public sector client data if it has a legal basis.