NSA Scandal Made UK and Canadian Businesses Wary of Storing Data in USA

An independent survey of 300 UK and Canadian businesses, commissioned by web infrastructure and cloud hosting provider Peer 1 Hosting, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Cable Inc., reveals that 25% will move their company data outside of the U.S. due to NSA-related privacy and security concerns.

Canadian companies are even more likely to relocate data than UK companies, with one in three saying they will move away from U.S. datacenters.

Despite this trend, the U.S. remains the most popular place for these companies to host data (51%) outside of their home countries.

Privacy concerns are growing after the NSA scandals and the summer of Snowden, with 82% of companies indicating that privacy laws are a top concern when choosing where to host their data. Further, 81% want to know exactly where their data is being hosted.

The survey revealed that the top three concerns for UK and Canadian businesses when choosing a hosting provider are now security (96%), performance (94%) and reputation (87%). Nearly 70% of respondents agree they would sacrifice performance to ensure data sovereignty.

Despite these new attitudes, organizations admit they are struggling to fully understand current data laws, with 60% agreeing they don’t know as much as they should about data security laws. Additionally, 44% feel that privacy and security laws confuse them.

“With data privacy and security concerns top of mind after NSA, PRISM and other revelations around the world, businesses in the UK and Canada are taking real action,” said Robert Miggins, SVP business development, Peer 1 Hosting. “Many are moving data outside of the U.S., and even more are making security and privacy their top concerns when choosing where to host their company data. It’s clear that hosting and cloud providers need to take note and offer their customers true choice in terms of the locations and environments where they store their data, ensuring they can maintain security, compliance and privacy to the best extent possible.”

Peer 1 helps businesses maintain their data sovereignty with secure managed hosting at more than 16 locations across North America and Europe. Companies have visibility of their data hosting infrastructure, and can choose to host data in the locations that meet their data security and privacy requirements.

Full results of the survey (registration needed))