Dive Brief:

• IBM announced Tuesday it is adding four new cloud data centers in the United Kingdom, tripling its capacity in the region. 

• Big Blue says it's adding the data centers to keep pace with growing client demand. Cloud adoption rates increased to 84% in the UK since 2011, according to Cloud Industry Forum.  

• IBM now has six cloud data centers in the UK and another 16 across Europe. 

Dive Insight:

By adding new cloud data centers in the UK, IBM is giving UK-based businesses an easier path to the cloud, since strict UK data protection laws require businesses to keep data within the country.

The new facilities will provide businesses "greater transparency and control over how they manage data," according to announcement. 

As technology has modernized, laws have emerged to better protect user privacy. International agreements, such as the Privacy Shield, have helped set standards for how service providers can work with data, which in many cases means companies need to keep data hosted in country. 

But companies that do not follow a host country's laws can be subject to repercussions. LinkedIn was recently blocked in Russia because of its failure to comply with Russian data storage standards.