New AWS Paris region makes it easier for customers to follow France’s data privacy rules

Amazon Web Services launched a new region in Paris today to serve customers in the European Union. This is AWS’ fourth region in the EU after Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom. One advantage of the Paris region is that it makes it easier for tech companies in France to comply with its data privacy regulations.

The region has three availability zones, which are separate geographic locations with their own infrastructure, including power, cooling, physical security and redundant, ultra-low-latency networks, to minimize the risk of service disruptions. The Paris region also enables AWS customers to store user data in France with the reassurance that it will not be moved unless they do so. France has strict data sovereignty laws, which means it requires tech companies to store data from French citizens inside the country. AWS already had three edge network locations in France to allow customers to deliver services, including websites and apps, to end users.

“We have tens of thousands of French customers using AWS from regions outside of France, but we’ve heard them loud and clear and are excited to deliver them an AWS Region in France, so they can easily operate their most latency-sensitive workloads or house any data that needs to reside on French soil,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, in a statement.

In addition to the same security compliance standards it uses at all its regions, AWS’ infrastructure is certified under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, a framework for how companies exchange information across the Atlantic while adhering to privacy laws in different countries, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will be implemented in the European Union on May 25, 2018.

The opening of the Paris region, called the AWS EU (Paris) region, brings the total number of AWS regions around the world to 18, which together contain 49 availability zones. AWS’ French customers include Canal+, Decathlon, Les Echoes, Schneider Electric and Societe Generale.