Self-hosting Discourse for a Canadian community: keeping data and backups in Canada

[what CDCK does]

For our locale-specific hosting (CA/US/EU) we store content in that locale, but CDN endpoints worldwide can cache it upon request [excepting specific negotiated terms to the contrary].

[not an official statement from CDCK, but personal opinion]

This sort of request feels very pie-in-the-sky to me - as much as I’m for data sovereignty, preventing ANY data from leaving the country without a complete geolock on access just isn’t feasible. If someone outside the country accesses your site… the data has left the country. Do you also block all user access from outside the country? That’s the only way to have it.

If not, why is caching outside the country a problem? What’s the actual goal?

Depending on CDN provider, opting not to cache on CDN endpoints outside the country is possible, so if you really want to do it, go ahead.

If it’s sensitive PII you’re concerned about, that data doesn’t traverse the CDN. If it’s UGC (uploads, etc.), secure uploads can be enabled.

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