The question used to be simple: where do you store your customer data? Today, it’s evolved into something far more complex and consequential: who really owns your customer data, and what happens when that ownership becomes unclear?
As contact centers have transformed from cost centers into strategic customer engagement hubs, they’ve quietly become the most data-intensive function in most organizations. What was once a straightforward repository of call logs and basic customer information has exploded into a vast ecosystem of interactions, insights, and intelligence that spans every touchpoint of the customer journey.
Contact centers have always been a place where data is concentrated
Explains Martin Taylor, co-founder and deputy CEO of Content Guru. “Since their appearance in the 1980s, they’ve evolved through the COVID era to become the main front door and shop window – the means through which the vast majority of customer interaction takes place for most organizations.”
The numbers tell the story. Content Guru’s platforms alone processes billions of customer interactions annually across thousands of clients. But it’s not just the volume that’s changed – it’s the complexity and sensitivity of what’s being captured.
The Digital Customer Explosion
Enter the era of the “digital customer” – a reality where Internet of Things devices are predicted to reach 39 billion by 2030, far outpacing human population growth. Each device represents a human in the eyes of regulators like the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, meaning each generates personal data that must be managed, protected, and governed.
Add artificial intelligence into the mix, and you have data being processed, refined, and transformed into derivative insights at unprecedented scale. Suddenly, the contact center isn’t just handling customer inquiries – it’s managing a complex web of personal information that spans devices, interactions, and algorithmic processing.
But here’s where it gets complicated: whose data is it, really?
The Trust Equation
If you look to legislation such as GDPR, it’s clear that ultimately the data belongs to the data subject
Taylor notes. “So you’ve got that data belonging to the individual, and they care about where it’s being processed, by whom, and how.”
This isn’t just a compliance checkbox, consumer attitudes have matured rapidly. Remember when ChatGPT first launched and people eagerly fed it their personal details to experiment? That naive enthusiasm has been replaced by a much more skeptical, privacy-conscious mindset. Customers now ask harder questions: Who’s working with my data? Where is it being processed? Can I trust this organization with my information?
For CX leaders, this creates a perfect storm of challenges. They’re sitting at the crossroads of customer data, fielding demands for personalization and efficiency while navigating an increasingly complex web of regulations, vendor relationships, and consumer expectations.
The Jurisdiction Maze
The complexity multiplies when you consider the global nature of modern business. European organizations are increasingly moving away from default American big tech solutions, preferring data to be processed in Europe by European-based vendors. This isn’t just preference – it’s driven by legislation like the CLOUD Act and FISA, which can compel US-headquartered companies to hand over data to authorities regardless of where it’s processed and stored
You had the Microsoft France Chief Legal Officer admitting that data they’re storing in the EU might have to be sent to the US – they couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t
Taylor explains. “So people are worrying about that.”
The result? A grid of complexity where geography intersects with sector-specific requirements. Germany wants German processing. Healthcare has its own stringent requirements under the EU AI Act. Financial services demands PCI compliance. Each combination creates unique challenges that can’t be solved with one-size-fits-all cloud solutions.
The Myth of “It’s in the Cloud”
Perhaps the most dangerous assumption organizations make is that being “in the cloud” somehow absolves them of responsibility. This thinking has been thoroughly debunked by recent events.
What we’ve seen, particularly over the last year, is the evaporation of this idea that there’s such a thing as a public cloud
Taylor observes. “Increasingly, people know that each cloud is owned by somebody and exists in some physical locations.”
The AWS outage in Ashburn, Virginia in October 2025 drove this point home dramatically, affecting organizations worldwide that didn’t even know they had any connection to Virginia. The interconnected nature of modern cloud infrastructure means that your customer data might be processed in locations and under jurisdictions you’re not even aware of.
The Stakes Keep Rising
The financial and reputational consequences of getting this wrong continue to escalate. A decade ago, TalkTalk’s data breach resulted in a £400,000 fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office. By the time British Airways faced a similar incident, the fine had jumped to £20 million. The scale of penalties has grown alongside the complexity of the infrastructure and the sensitivity of the data being processed.
Data loss is the new oil spill
Taylor warns. “You can’t be losing data, or you’re going to be losing customers and paying fines as well.”
Building on Solid Foundations
Organizations that are successfully navigating this landscape share common characteristics: they’ve invested in understanding where their data lives, who has access to it, and under what circumstances it might be accessed by others. They’ve moved beyond the simple question of availability to consider auditability, sovereignty, and transparency.
Some are finding success through frameworks like FedRAMP, which requires vendors to meet over 420 separate security procedures. Others are insisting on in-nation processing and vendor residency alignment. The key is recognizing that data governance isn’t just an IT issue – it’s a strategic business decision that impacts customer trust, regulatory compliance, and competitive advantage.
The Path Forward
As AI continues to transform customer experience capabilities, the questions around data ownership will only intensify. Organizations need to move beyond reactive compliance to proactive governance, building systems and partnerships that can adapt to evolving regulations while maintaining customer trust.
The contact center may have become the most data-rich environment in business, but with the right approach to ownership and governance, it can also become the most trustworthy.
The question isn’t just who owns your customer data – it’s whether you’re prepared to prove you’re worthy of that ownership.
In our next piece, we sit down with Content Guru’s Martin Taylor to explore how CX leaders can build trust in this data-rich world while maintaining the agility and innovation their customers expect.
