Data Residency

Configure where your organization's data is stored to meet regional compliance requirements and data sovereignty regulations.

Overview

Data residency controls allow organizations to specify which geographic region their data should be stored in. This is important for compliance with regulations like GDPR (Europe), PDPA (India), and other data sovereignty laws that require personal data to remain within specific jurisdictions.

Testify supports multiple data regions, and organization administrators can select their preferred region based on their compliance needs.

What Is Data Residency

Data residency refers to the physical location where your organization's data is stored and processed. When you select a data region, the following data is subject to the residency setting:

• User account information (names, emails, phone numbers)
• Questions and question bank content
• Exam definitions, submissions, and results
• Student performance data and analytics
• Certificates and report cards
• Uploaded files and documents
• Audit logs and activity records

Tip: Data residency affects where data is stored at rest. Data may still transit through other regions during processing, depending on your network topology and CDN configuration.

Available Data Regions

Testify maintains data centers in multiple regions. Each region has:

• Region ID -- a unique identifier (e.g., us-east, eu-west, ap-south)
• Display Name -- a human-readable name (e.g., "US East", "EU West", "Asia Pacific - Mumbai")
• Description -- details about the data center location and certifications
• Active Status -- whether the region is currently available

Viewing Available Regions

1. Navigate to "Settings" > "Data Residency"
2. The page lists all active data regions with their descriptions
3. Your current region is highlighted

You can also view regions without authentication -- the region list is a public endpoint useful during organization registration.

Checking Your Current Data Region

1. Go to "Settings" > "Data Residency"
2. Your current configuration shows:
   • Current Region -- the selected data region
   • Region Name -- human-readable name of the region
   • Region Description -- details about the data center
   • Enforcement Status -- whether the region is enforced (locked by a super admin)

Configuring Data Residency

Who Can Change the Data Region

• Org Admins and Org Owners can change the data region if enforcement is not active
• Super Admins can change the data region for any organization, even if enforcement is active

Changing Your Data Region

1. Go to "Settings" > "Data Residency"
2. Click "Change Region"
3. Select your desired region from the dropdown:
   • Each region shows its display name and description
   • Only active regions are available for selection
4. Click "Save"
5. Confirm the change when prompted

Tip: Changing data regions may involve a data migration process. Plan region changes during low-usage periods to minimize impact on users.

Enforcement Mode

When data residency enforcement is enabled for an organization:

• Only super admins can change the data region
• Org admins see the current region but cannot modify it
• The enforcement flag is displayed as "Enforced" in the settings

This is typically enabled for organizations with strict compliance requirements where the data region should not be changed without platform-level approval.

Compliance Considerations

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

For organizations with EU-based users:

1. Select a data region within the European Union (e.g., "EU West")
2. Enable enforcement to prevent accidental region changes
3. This ensures personal data of EU residents stays within the EU

Data Protection Laws by Region

Region	Applicable Laws	Recommended Data Region
European Union	GDPR	EU West, EU Central
India	PDPA, IT Act	Asia Pacific - Mumbai
United States	State-level (CCPA, etc.)	US East, US West
United Kingdom	UK GDPR, DPA 2018	EU West (UK)
Australia	Privacy Act 1988	Asia Pacific - Sydney

Tip: Consult your legal team to determine which data residency requirements apply to your organization. Testify provides the technical controls, but compliance decisions should be made with legal guidance.

Data Residency for Resellers

Resellers managing multiple organizations can configure data residency per organization.

Setting Region During Organization Creation

1. When creating a new organization through the reseller portal
2. Select the "Data Region" during the setup wizard
3. Optionally enable "Enforce Data Residency" to lock the region

Managing Regions for Sub-Organizations

1. Go to "Reseller" > "Organizations"
2. Select the organization
3. Navigate to "Settings" > "Data Residency"
4. Change or enforce the data region as needed

Data Migration Between Regions

When changing data regions, the following process occurs:

Before Migration

1. The system validates the target region is active and available
2. A pre-migration check estimates the data volume to be moved
3. Users are notified of the upcoming migration (if configured)

During Migration

1. Data is copied to the new region
2. The system verifies data integrity after the copy
3. DNS and routing are updated to point to the new region
4. Old region data is retained temporarily as a backup

After Migration

1. The organization's data region setting is updated
2. Users may need to re-authenticate (their tokens point to the previous region)
3. Old region data is deleted after a retention period

Tip: Data migration duration depends on data volume. Small organizations migrate in minutes; large organizations may take several hours.

API Reference

List Available Regions

GET /api/v2/data-regions

Returns all active data regions. This endpoint does not require authentication.

Get Current Data Residency

GET /api/v2/org/data-residency

Returns the current organization's data region and enforcement status. Requires authentication.

Update Data Residency

PUT /api/v2/org/data-residency

Changes the organization's data region. Requires org admin or super admin role. Body:

{
  "data_region": "eu-west"
}

Monitoring Data Residency

Audit Trail

All data residency changes are logged in the audit system:

1. Go to "Admin" > "Audit Logs"
2. Filter by component = "Organization"
3. Look for events related to data region changes

Compliance Reports

Generate compliance reports showing:

1. Current data region for the organization
2. History of region changes
3. Enforcement status
4. Data types stored in the region

Troubleshooting

Cannot Change Data Region

• Verify you have the Org Admin or Org Owner role
• Check if enforcement is enabled -- only super admins can change enforced regions
• Ensure the target region is active and available

Data Region Shows as "Default"

• The organization has not been assigned a specific data region
• Data is stored in the platform's primary data center
• Select a specific region if compliance requirements dictate

Users Experiencing Latency After Region Change

• After a region change, data is served from the new location
• Users geographically distant from the new region may experience higher latency
• CDN and caching layers typically minimize this impact
• Consider whether the region change was necessary given the latency trade-off

Enforcement Not Taking Effect

• Verify the data_residency_enforced flag is set to true in organization settings
• Only super admins can set or remove enforcement
• Check the audit logs to confirm the enforcement change was applied