Data residency and endpoints

This document explains when data residency is enforced in each location where Model Armor is available. Data residency lets you specify a geographic region where your data is stored and processed, which helps ensure that your data remains in that location. Model Armor helps provide control over where your data is handled, supporting compliance with various regulations.

Model Armor processes the following types of data:

  • Core data: The primary data that Model Armor processes, most relevant to data residency, which includes prompts, responses, and input files. Model Armor processes core data but doesn't store it at rest. For more information, see Data handling and storage.

  • Configuration data: Template and floor setting configurations such as rules, filters, and thresholds that Model Armor uses to scan prompts and responses. Model Armor processes and stores configuration data at rest.

How and when data residency is enforced

The following table indicates the data residency controls enforced by Model Armor for each supported Google Cloud location. Model Armor provides data residency guarantees at the jurisdiction level, for example, a specific country like India, or a multi-region like eu.

Region/multi-region Jurisdiction At rest In use In transit Feature support
asia-northeast1 Japan Yes No No Full support
asia-northeast3 South Korea Yes No No Full support
asia-south1 India Yes Yes Yes Limited support
asia-southeast1 Singapore Yes No No Full support
australia-southeast2 Australia Yes No No Full support
eu European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
europe-southwest1 European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
europe-west1 European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
europe-west2 United Kingdom Yes No No Full support
europe-west3 European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
europe-west4 European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
europe-west9 European union Yes Yes Yes Full support
northamerica-northeast2 Toronto Yes Yes Yes Limited support
us United States Yes Yes Yes Full support
us-central1 United States Yes Yes Yes Full support
us-east1 United States Yes Yes Yes Full support
us-east4 United States Yes Yes Yes Full support
us-west1 United States Yes Yes Yes Full support

The Jurisdiction column indicates the geographical boundary (for example, a country or a multi-region like eu or us) within which Model Armor ensures data residency compliance for the in use and In transit data states.

The Region/multi-region column lists the specific Google Cloud region or multi-region identifier.

When data residency is enforced for a region in Model Armor, it helps ensure that data remains within a specified jurisdiction while in at least one of the following states:

  • At rest: Data remains within the specific Google Cloud region listed.

  • In use and In transit: Data residency enforcement for these states within the specified jurisdiction depends on the values in the In use and In transit columns:

    • Yes: Data residency is enforced for the In use and In transit states within the listed jurisdiction. This means that the data remains within the boundaries of the listed jurisdiction while being processed or transmitted (not necessarily within that single region).
    • No: Data residency is not enforced for the In use and In transit states within the listed jurisdiction. This means that the data might be processed or transmitted outside of the jurisdiction.

Regional endpoints

Regional endpoints provide access to resources in a specific location. When you use a regional endpoint, your request is routed directly to the endpoint's location. You can't use a regional endpoint to access resources in other locations.

Using a regional endpoint helps you enforce data residency controls for your resources when they're at rest, in use, and in transit. Each regional endpoint uses the following format:

modelarmor.LOCATION.rep.googleapis.com

Replace LOCATION with a supported location. For supported locations, see Locations.

To access Model Armor regional endpoints from within a VPC network, you must create a Private Service Connect endpoint to the Model Armor APIs. This is required to prevent certificate errors when regional endpoints are accessed using Private Google Access or VPC Service Controls. For more information, see Troubleshoot Model Armor issues and About accessing regional endpoints through Private Service Connect endpoints.

Impact of data residency on MCP traffic

Jurisdiction defines the geographic region and legal boundary where your data is processed and stored. This is critical for data residency—ensuring data stays within a chosen location to meet regulatory compliance. Model Armor is a regionalized service, but it's not available in every Google Cloud region where Google and Google Cloud MCP servers-supported services operate. If you enable Model Armor for an MCP-supported service in a jurisdiction where Model Armor isn't present, your data might be sent to a Model Armor endpoint in a different jurisdiction for security screening. These cross-jurisdiction calls might impact data residency requirements for the MCP-supported service. For information about how cross-jurisdiction calls impact data residency for the specific services you use, refer to the documentation for each MCP-supported service.