Data residency for Slack

The implementation of data residency in Slack enables international teams to exercise control over the geographic location in which specific categories of data are stored when at rest.

The following information pertains to the concept of data residency:

• It is imperative for customers to ensure that all of their Slack data is stored inside a singular area.
  In order to use some features on Slack, such as those available in the free version or the Pro membership, it is necessary to first upgrade to the Business+ subscription.
  Please reach out to our Sales team in order to establish data residency for your organization.
• It is important to note that the data residency feature just pertains to the data storage location and does not alter any other parts of Slack. Slack will persist in retaining and handling any remaining classifications of data in compliance with the contractual agreement for Slack services and the privacy policy established by Slack.

Please be aware that if you are not utilizing data residency measures, your data will be kept within the United States. To access further details, please go to Slack’s Data Management Policy.

Where data residency is available for Slack

Please refer to the table provided below to identify the locations where data residency is accessible, along with the accompanying backup areas.

Data residency region	Data backup region
Frankfurt, Germany	Paris, France
Paris, France	Frankfurt, Germany
Tokyo, Japan	Osaka, Japan
Mumbai, India	Mumbai, India*
Seoul, South Korea	Seoul, South Korea*
Sydney, Australia	Sydney, Australia*
London, United Kingdom	London, United Kingdom*
Montreal, Canada	Montreal, Canada*

Slack employs data replication to ensure that both data residency and data backup are maintained within the same geographic region.

How data residency for Slack works

Data stored in the data region

As of the day that data residency is enabled, the customer’s selected area will house a data center where the various types of customer data will be securely housed.

• In the realm of digital communication, several forms of textual content have emerged, including messages, postings, and snippets. These forms serve as concise and succinct means of conveying information, ideas, and opinions inside online platforms
• The Slack service allows for the uploading of many types of files, such as photographs and documents.
• The task at hand involves doing a search for the index of client data.
• Messages and files created by applications or bots
• All data obtained via the utilization of an application placed on Slack’s managed infrastructure, including the application’s datastores, developer secrets, and logs.

Data stored outside the data region

The subsequent classifications of data have the potential to undergo processing and storage in geographical areas that are situated beyond the designated data region of the client.

• The topic of discussion pertains to the profiles of members on the Slack platform.
• Information on workspace and channel membership
• The data employed for the purpose of quantifying seat count, utilization, and revenue.
• The data employed for analytical purposes and to assess the quality of service, such as sanitized logs, is utilized.
• The identification numbers generated by the Slack platform on behalf of the user.

Data migration

When a new workspace or Enterprise Grid organization is established inside a data residency area, the customer’s data will be stored exclusively within the chosen region, commencing from the moment of workspace or organization creation.

For customers who are already using our services and would want to activate data residency, any newly created user data will be stored only in the area that they have chosen. The retention of user data inside the United States will persist, however, customers have the option to initiate the migration of their current data to a specific data location of their choice by reaching out to our Sales team.

Slack Connect

When other organizations collaborate using Slack Connect and are located inside the same data area, it ensures that their respective customer data will be retained exclusively within that particular data region. If organizations are situated in distinct data zones, the next consequences will occur:

• The communications of each organization will be stored in their own data zones.
• The search index for the Slack Connect channel will be located inside the region of each respective organization.
• In the event that an organization is removed from a channel, it will keep an archived copy provided that it possesses the necessary permissions to engage in activities such as posting and inviting others.

Enterprise Key Management

Both new and current clients of Enterprise Key Management (EKM) have the option to select a particular data location for the creation and storage of their encryption keys, ensuring data residency.