Can we control data residency and cross-border data transfers?

Summary

• Yes. You choose the region where your Databricks workspace is deployed, and the control plane, classic compute plane, and serverless compute plane are each provided on a region-specific basis, so your processing stays in the geography you select.
• By default, customer content is processed only within the same Databricks Geo as your workspace, except for a defined set of Designated Services.
• Account admins can restrict cross-region processing with the "Enforce data processing within workspace geography for Designated Services" setting, and default workspace storage uses the same region as the workspace.
• Unity Catalog provides region-aware governance, classification, and auditing across accounts, regions, and clouds so you can enforce residency policies consistently.
• For controlled cross-region collaboration, Delta Sharing publishes read-only, governed datasets without replicating full storage environments.

Can we control data residency and cross-border data transfers?

Yes. Data residency on Databricks starts with the region you choose for your workspace. The control plane, classic compute plane, and serverless compute plane are each provided on a region-specific basis, and default workspace storage uses the same region as the workspace. That regional foundation, combined with governance controls, lets you keep customer data within a chosen geography and manage when and how any cross-border processing can occur. Residency requirements are specific to each organization and jurisdiction, so validate your configuration against your own obligations.

How the Databricks Platform helps you control data residency

• Region selection is the foundation. You pick the region where your workspace runs. Because each plane is region-specific and default storage stays in that region, most customer data processing occurs within your selected geography. See Databricks Geos.
• Processing stays in your Geo by default. By default, customer content is processed only in the same Databricks Geo as your workspace, except for a defined set of Designated Services that may process outside the region when a feature is not available locally.
• Admin control over cross-region processing. Account administrators can enable the "Enforce data processing within workspace geography for Designated Services" setting to restrict processing to your workspace geography; when it is disabled, features that need it can process across geographies.
• Region-aware governance with Unity Catalog. Unity Catalog governs data and AI across accounts, regions, and clouds with a single namespace, fine-grained access control, classification, lineage, and auditing — so residency and access policies are enforced and observable consistently.
• Controlled cross-region sharing. When cross-jurisdiction collaboration is required, expose data as governed data products and use Delta Sharing to publish controlled, read-only datasets across regions without replicating full storage environments.
• Jurisdiction-scoped design. A common architectural pattern is to scope workspaces and storage per jurisdiction, keep raw datasets processed and stored locally within each region, and use Unity Catalog for region-aware governance, granting cross-region access explicitly only where allowed.

Getting started

• Read Databricks Geos to understand how data residency is managed for customer content and which services are Designated Services.
• Choose workspace regions that match your residency requirements; confirm regional availability in the feature and region support documentation.
• Configure Unity Catalog for classification and access control, and use Delta Sharing for governed cross-region data exchange.
• Review the security and compliance guidance and validate the configuration against your own regulatory obligations.

FAQs

Does my data stay in the region I choose?

By default, customer content is processed only in the same Databricks Geo as your workspace, with the exception of a defined set of Designated Services. Default workspace storage also uses the workspace region.

Can I prevent cross-border processing by Databricks features?

Account administrators can enable the "Enforce data processing within workspace geography for Designated Services" setting to restrict processing to your workspace geography.

How do I share data across regions without moving all of it?

Use Delta Sharing to publish controlled, read-only, governed datasets across regions without replicating your full storage environment, with access granted explicitly through Unity Catalog.