Cloud and GDPR: Is Moving to the Cloud Safe?

With Atlassian announcing that it'll be discounting its server product line and moving over to the Cloud, it has raised the question of how safe exactly is the Cloud, and whether it complies with GDPR? Well, to answer that question in short, YES, YES IT IS! Keep on reading to find out more about the Cloud and why it's safe.

At the beginning of 2024, support for the Atlassian server product line will be discontinued, with new licenses already as of early 2021 no longer being sold. The reason for this is Atlassian's commitment to offering the best possible Cloud experiences that allow teams to be more agile, and for them to take advantage of the simpler administration and immediate scalability that the Cloud offers.

Early adopters to Atlassian Cloud have already noted the advantages of migrating over, praising its modern, intuitive, and consistent collaboration experience across all Atlassian products, which allows for a smoother workflow and integration.

Committed to Data Privacy

Atlassian is wholly invested in the protection of its customers' data, ensuring that everything complies with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Designed to give EU citizens more control over their data, the GDPR unifies privacy and security laws under one comprehensive law.

Security Upon Security

Security is built into every layer of the Atlassian Cloud architecture to protect its user's information and privacy. Atlassian provides replication, backup, disaster recovery planning, encryption in transit and at rest, and advanced threat detection to ensure maximum security.

In addition, Atlassian has devoted significant resources towards ensuring the Cloud meets widely accepted standards and certifications, including ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27018 standards, as well as SOC 2 and SOC 3 certifications.

Atlassian’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Adrian Ludwig, notes that there are huge opportunities and benefits for enterprise security that come with a shift to cloud-based software and SaaS offerings. “The movement toward cloud reduces a lot of security toil, like tracking inventory, installing OSs, keeping patches up to date,” explains Ludwig. By removing that time and effort, energy can be shifted to more strategic security initiatives.

Safety for International Data Transfers

For organizations accessing and transferring data worldwide, Atlassian offers its users a robust international data transfer framework for personal data that's being transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). Standard Contractual Clauses allow for the lawful transferring of personal data to Atlassian Cloud products outside of the EEA.

Whenever any data is shared with Atlassian service providers, Atlassian remains accountable for how these organizations use this data. As a standard practice, Atlassian requires all service providers to undergo a thorough diligence process and enter into contracts that ensure all customers' personal data receives adequate protection and safeguards. As new data protection requirements arise in Europe, Atlassian will continue to meet the adequacy requirements in accordance with the GDPR.

Continued Privacy and Security Support

Thanks to Atlassian's Roadmap, we can see continued efforts to enforce security and privacy to its users. These include:

App Vulnerability Scanning

Atlassian Apps will be automatically scanned for known top security vulnerabilities.

VPAT Documents for Cloud Products

Atlassian will provide a VPAT document for each of its cloud products.

Alignment with WCAG 2.1 Standards

Atlassian's cloud products are set to comply with WCAG 2.1 specifications to the greatest extent possible.

External User Security

External users that aren't a part of your organization will need to go through improved security requirements when using your Atlassian products.

You can view the full amount of Atlassian's continued Cloud security and privacy support, as well as other Cloud features as part of Atlassian's Roadmap, which is viewable here.

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