The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is urging the City Council of Chicago to reject Ordinance 2-68-050, which mandates data residency requirements for City data. SIIA represents approximately 375 companies involved in various sectors of digital content and information services. In their letter, SIIA argues that the ordinance, which would localize data storage within the city or state, would have negative unintended consequences. These include increased cybersecurity risks, as centralizing data locally would make it a more visible target for malicious actors. Additionally, the ordinance could impede the use of advanced cloud computing solutions that offer greater efficiency and security.
Moreover, SIIA highlights the financial impact of the ordinance. The proposed data localization would drive up costs by requiring the City to build and maintain local data storage infrastructure, eliminating the cost-saving benefits of current cloud-based, large-scale solutions. These increased storage costs would strain the City’s budget and reduce overall revenue. SIIA’s letter emphasizes that this policy would ultimately undermine its intended goals, and they welcome further discussion with the Committee on this issue.
