Why host your company data in France?

For the purposes of their business, companies have to choose effective hosting for their data. Given what is at stake around security and confidentiality, the question of whether to host company data in a data centre in France or abroad comes up more and more often. Here are the fundamental reasons why you should favour a French host such as NetExplorer to protect your confidential content.

The different hosting options for companies

Whether for individuals or companies, there are many ways to host data. Between hard drives, servers and the cloud, each option offers its own advantages depending on its nature.

Hosting data on a server

Servers are a familiar part of the hosting landscape. Through them, a company's colleagues and associates can share documents and files with one another. On the security side, servers offer more assurance than hard drives. Companies that choose this option most often prefer to install it on their own premises. There remains a risk of losing the data in a serious incident such as a fire or a flood. Servers also require regular maintenance carried out by IT specialists.

Hosting data on a hard drive

Hosting on a hard drive is probably the most widespread and the most instinctive method for keeping personal or company data. Occasional and practical, it works well for archiving certain important files. Unlike the cloud and servers, though, a hard drive is a disappointing and not very useful option when it comes to reaching documents day after day. The guarantees hard drive hosting offers its users are far from optimal, because a hard drive can deteriorate over time, or be destroyed by a fall or a deliberate act, and the data it holds goes with it.

Hosting data in the cloud

The cloud is a hosting option whose use is gradually becoming widespread. It lets you store data on external servers reachable over the internet. A company's colleagues can reach the information (documents, images, videos and so on) from any device, and above all from anywhere. Cloud hosting services are offered by many platforms, all of which undertake to guarantee the integrity of their clients' data.

The Cloud Act and its conflict with the GDPR

While cloud hosting platforms care about the security of the data they store, a new problem may give users pause before choosing this otherwise effective option. The Cloud Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) was adopted on 23 March 2018 in the United States. This federal law authorises American law enforcement and intelligence agencies to consult data stored on cloud servers within their reach. In practice, the American authorities can now reach data belonging to American and foreign companies alike, without those companies being told beforehand. On that specific point, the Cloud Act violates article 48 of the GDPR in force in France and in the European Union. Given that situation, French companies would do well to turn to a host established in France and subject to European regulation.

The main advantages of hosting your company data in France

If you are still hesitating between a French host and one based abroad, these main reasons should convince you to go with a French solution such as the one NetExplorer offers.

Proximity you can count on

Opting for a data centre on French soil is choosing proximity. It makes exchanges simpler and easier, in terms of language as much as time zones. You can get hold of your host easily, which is far harder when they are on the other side of the world. If the need arises, you can even visit the site to judge the quality of the service for yourself. That proximity brings reassurance and peace of mind.

Compliance with European law

Hosts established on French soil are governed entirely by the rules laid down by the European Union, the GDPR among them, which offers stronger protection to individuals and companies. By choosing a French data centre, you can be sure you are working with a host that complies with European personal data protection law.

Confidentiality for your company data

Even though data centres located outside Europe are bound to respect European law, they also have to obey the rules of their own countries. In a dispute with an American host, the court with jurisdiction is nonetheless an American one. With the Cloud Act in place, that can pose a serious confidentiality problem: the American authorities can consult the company's personal data without any authorisation. Bringing legal proceedings against an American or foreign company is also extremely expensive. The legal and financial resources involved can be colossal.

NetExplorer: the ideal way to host your data in France

To host your company data in France, we suggest favouring the solution NetExplorer offers. It is designed for professionals and keeps data safe thanks to servers installed on French soil. Our company is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant. We also hold HDS (Health Data Hosting) certification, so we fully guarantee the security and confidentiality of all your data if you run an organisation that records and stores health data (a hospital, an independent doctor and so on). Our platform also offers clients a genuinely close relationship, with support available around the clock. NetExplorer is therefore a real asset if you are thinking of storing your company's data with a French host. The services we offer are of high quality and built on innovative, capable and above all secure technology. Source: https://www.cnil.fr/fr/reglement-europeen-protection-donnees