What are regional routing rules (GDPR, data residency)?

Regional routing rules govern where email data is processed and stored to comply with privacy regulations and data residency requirements.

GDPR considerations:

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation restricts transferring personal data outside the EU without adequate protections

Email addresses, subscriber data, and tracking information are personal data

Processing must occur in the EU/EEA or in countries with adequacy decisions, or under approved transfer mechanisms (SCCs, BCRs)

Data residency requirements:

Some countries require citizen data to remain within national borders

Industries like healthcare or finance may have additional location requirements

Government contracts often specify data location

How ESPs implement regional routing:

EU-based data centers process EU subscriber data

Routing rules direct EU traffic through EU infrastructure

Storage and logs remain in compliant locations

Clear documentation of data flows for compliance audits

Practical implications:

Enterprise customers may need to specify data processing regions

Some ESP features might be unavailable in certain regions

Latency may increase if routing rules override geographic optimization

Choose ESPs that support your compliance requirements with appropriate infrastructure and contractual commitments.