A Dutch cloud, not just a European location.
Where the server stands is one question. Who owns the company that runs it is the more important one.
Short answer
A Dutch or European cloud is a cloud service whose data centre is in Europe and whose company also falls under European law. That second part is the difference from the European regions of American providers. Jevana is a Dutch company with its own hardware in Hengelo. Your data therefore falls only under Dutch and European law. This is also called a sovereign cloud.
Three questions to ask any cloud
| Question | American provider, European region | Jevana |
|---|---|---|
| Where the server is | In the European Union | In Hengelo |
| Who owns the company | An American parent company | Dutch, with no foreign parent company |
| Which law can force access | European and American | Dutch and European |
| Who manages the hardware | The provider, organised worldwide | The two of us |
| Software | The provider's own, closed | Open source where possible |
The CLOUD Act in three sentences
The CLOUD Act is an American law from 2018. It obliges American companies to hand over data to American investigators when a judge orders it, even if that data sits on a server outside the United States.
A data centre in Amsterdam or Frankfurt changes nothing about that while the owner is American. How often it happens in practice is another question. For many organisations the risk is acceptable. For anyone working with medical, legal or government data, it is a question that clients and regulators ask more and more.
Where your organisation's data isSovereignty is a scale, not a switch
Digital sovereignty means you decide what happens to your data and systems. Nobody has that completely: we also use processors from Asia and software from all over the world.
It is about the choices you do have. Can you leave your supplier, with your data in a usable format. Do you know who can get at it. Can a foreign government force access. We do not advise throwing everything out. We do advise knowing which data you hold where, and putting the most sensitive on a platform where those three questions have a clear answer.
What we offer in that space
- Files and collaboration
- JevanaHub and JevanaFiles, built on Nextcloud.
- Source code
- Forgejo, an environment of its own per client.
- Servers
- Virtual servers and a private cloud on our own hardware.
- Taking it with you
- Open source and common formats. You can always take your data and configuration with you.
Questions
What makes a cloud Dutch or European?
Three things together: the servers are in the Netherlands or the European Union, the company that runs them is European with no parent company outside it, and European law applies to the agreement. A European region of an American provider meets the first, not the second. So always ask about the owner, not only about the location.
What is the CLOUD Act?
The CLOUD Act is an American law from 2018 that obliges American companies to hand data to American authorities when a judge orders it, whatever country the data is stored in. The law applies to the company, not to the location. European subsidiaries of American providers therefore fall under it as well.
Can an American government reach data that is stored in Europe?
If the data is held by an American company, an American judge can order that company to hand it over, even from a European data centre. Providers can contest such an order and sometimes do. If the data is held by a European company with no American link, there is no party to whom such an order can be addressed.
Do we have to leave Microsoft or Google?
No, you do not have to. For most organisations Microsoft 365 works well and the risk is manageable. It is wise to know which data you keep there and which of it is sensitive. You can set that apart in an environment under European law, such as JevanaHub, while email and calendar stay where they are.
How do I check where my data is?
Ask your supplier in writing for three things: the country of the data centre, the legal owner of the service and the list of subcontractors who can reach the data. The last one is in the data processing agreement. For Microsoft 365 you can also find the region of your environment in the admin portal. A supplier that stays vague about this is giving an answer too.
Goes well with
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Alternative to Microsoft 365
What you can use in Europe instead of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and what you give up.
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JevanaHub
Files, office software, chat and video calls in one place. Built on Nextcloud, on our own hardware.
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Private cloud
A sealed-off environment of your own, with virtual servers and a network, on our hardware.
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Data centre in Hengelo
Where Jevana's servers stand, whose they are and what that means for your data.
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IT for law firms
Confidentiality built into the technology: IT management for law firms and legal service providers.
From the knowledge base
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Nextcloud and the GDPR: what do you need to arrange?
Nextcloud does not make you GDPR compliant by itself. What the software covers, what the host covers and what stays with you.
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What is a data processing agreement and when do you need one?
If a host, payroll provider or IT administrator handles personal data for you, put it in writing. What it contains and what to check.
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A European alternative to GitHub: Forgejo, Gitea or GitLab?
Three ways to host your code yourself, the difference between Forgejo and Gitea, and what you take with you when you leave GitHub.
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Where does your organisation's data live, and why does it matter?
The difference between where your data physically sits and which law your supplier falls under, and what to ask your supplier.
Tell us what you run.
An introduction costs nothing. You talk straight away to one of the two people who will actually do the work.
or email info@jevana.systems