Secure AI

Security Challenges with AI Services

AI services are revolutionizing how organizations work, but with new opportunities also come significant security challenges.

Sharing sensitive data with AI platforms involves risks that can have serious consequences, especially at a time when data protection and digital sovereignty are more relevant than ever.

When an organization uses an external AI service, large amounts of data are often sent for training or analysis. This data can contain everything from trade secrets to personal data, creating several risks:

• Incorrect data handling: The data sent to the AI service can sometimes be used to train the general model. This means that your sensitive information can accidentally leak or be used in others' AI models, undermining the data you have submitted.
• Authorization structure: The data you use to train AI models must be handled with the same rights in the AI service as in the source of this data. This is a complex structure that must not go wrong as data can be exposed to unauthorized persons.
• Lack of transparency: It is often difficult to know exactly how external AI services handle data. It can be unclear where data is stored, who has access to it, and whether it is securely deleted after use. This creates a lack of control, which is a major problem when it comes to sensitive information.

Challenges with GDPR, CLOUD Act, and Third Countries.

In Europe, all organizations must adhere to strict data protection rules. Three of the biggest challenges are:

• GDPR is an EU regulation that governs how personal data may be processed. It requires that data be processed within the EU/EEA or in a country with an adequate level of protection. Using AI services from companies outside the EU can therefore violate GDPR. The consequences can be high fines and damaged reputation.
• Political influence is something that is used more frequently in today's political climate. With Sweden's and Europe's digital dependence on the USA, there is a risk that this will be exploited. It is therefore important to make a correct risk assessment and ensure that the business is not affected by limited access to services.
• CLOUD Act is a US law that gives US authorities the right to request data from US tech companies, regardless of where in the world the data is stored. This creates a conflict with GDPR, as US companies can be forced to disclose personal data to US authorities, even if this data belongs to European citizens.
• Third countries are countries that do not belong to the EU/EEA and lack an adequate level of protection according to GDPR. Transferring personal data to these countries entails a great risk, as they do not have the same requirements for data protection. Using AI services operated by companies from third countries requires careful legal assessments and agreements.

A solution to choose a secure and digitally sovereign AI platform

To address these challenges, organizations should prioritize a secure and digitally sovereign AI platform. Such a platform should meet the following criteria:

• European company and data centers within the EU: By choosing a platform whose company and data are managed within the EU, compliance with GDPR is guaranteed. It also minimizes the risk of data leaks and that data is handled incorrectly in countries with weaker data protection laws.
• No exposure to CLOUD Act: A platform that is owned and operated by a European company is not directly subject to the CLOUD Act. This ensures that your data cannot be disclosed to foreign authorities without a proper legal process under European law.
• Strict control and transparency: A secure platform offers complete transparency and control over your data. You should know where your data is, how it is used, and that it is securely deleted when you choose to terminate your service.
• No vendor lock-in: Choose a service that is based on open standards or open source to avoid technical vendor lock-in. Conditions change rapidly both technically, politically, economically, and regulatorily; the value of being able to move when needed is often underestimated.
• A stronger Sweden and Europe: By choosing a Swedish or European cloud platform, you avoid the risk of political influence and you support local businesses and counteract the dependence we currently have on the USA. We need to build a strong European ecosystem to create more jobs in Europe and a healthy balance of power.

Elastx Cloud Platform is a Swedish cloud platform for business-critical services and sensitive data. We offer a robust and secure infrastructure adapted for AI services including GPU capacity and storage services. On this infrastructure, we offer an AI platform to consume language models, RAG, semantic search, and AI agents via an API. With full Swedish and European regulatory compliance and certification in ISO 27001, 27017, 27018, and 14001, we can help organizations with a secure and sustainable digital future.

Investing in a secure, Swedish cloud platform for AI services is a strategic investment in data protection,** digital sovereignty**, and** sustainability**. It gives you control over your data and creates security for your organization, your customers, and your partners.