What is data residency?

Data residency refers to the physical location where an organization, business, or governmental body stores its data.

Data residency is a privacy concept companies have quickly embraced and adopted to improve control over their data.  

At PandaDoc, we recognize that many of our European customers prefer and desire an EU data residency option.

While the original PandaDoc app hosted in the US complies with applicable laws and maintains high security and reliability standards, we are pleased to announce an EU-based data residency option to serve our customers better throughout the European Union.

Why is data residency in the EU important to European companies?

EU data residency is currently not a legal requirement for global SaaS companies.

However, for businesses working in the US and the EU, storing personal data within the region where the data was created can help with data control and adherence to emerging privacy principles.

PandaDoc’s EU server 

Many European PandaDoc customers have requested EU data residency to comply with their internal organizations’ requirements and securely store and process data in the EU.

Storing data – including personal data – in the EU enables companies to have better control of the data by keeping it closer to home.

Data residency in the EU also helps companies align with various regional regulatory standards and policies.

Furthermore, with data stored closer to users, data transfer times are reduced, resulting in faster responses for SaaS solutions.

With this in mind, PandaDoc now offers an EU-based data residency location for our customer’s security and privacy.

How is PandaDoc implementing data residency for its product?

As of September 2023, PandaDoc customers will have a choice of data center locations for data storage.

PandaDoc launched its product on AWS servers in Frankfurt, Germany, to accomplish this. 

This strategic move ensures that users in the EU experience reduced latency and enhanced performance, and do so with the same level of robustness, reliability, and security they’ve always expected from PandaDoc.

What data is stored and processed by PandaDoc in the EU?

If you select EU data residency, PandaDoc will store and process the following data within the European Union:

• All documents created by customers, signed and unsigned, including templates, PDFs, texts, metadata, and comments

• PandaDoc application account configuration

• Content library items

• Images

• Ongoing billing information

• Contacts 

• Forms

• Catalog items

• Inboxes for account members and other recipients

Is data migration for current customers possible?

Unfortunately, data migration is not possible due to security reasons. For example, you cannot transfer data from one sovereign region’s data center to another.

The EU data center operates in isolation and is independent of PandaDoc’s US data center, preventing the mingling or sharing of client data with other services.

However, you can leverage these security requirements by promoting your business’s data residency capabilities as a unique selling proposition.

Furthermore, transparency about client data policies is always a good idea, as there’s no place for ambiguity when earning client trust.

If your organization is vague about where client data resides, particularly in a cloud environment, you put trusting client relationships at risk.

Secure, compliant data residency options with PandaDoc

Whether in the US or the EU, PandaDoc is here to help keep your business data secured, deeply encrypted, and stored in a geographic location compliant with data residency requirements.

PandaDoc enables you to continue fostering trust and transparency with your customers and partners.

Schedule a demo today to learn more about how PandaDoc can help you and your team!