Customer data glossary

Data egress

By Art Kukharenko · Published 2026-10-17 · Updated 2026-10-18

Data egress is data leaving a system, network or cloud provider, and the term also names the fees cloud providers charge for moving data out.

Part of the Learn hub and the customer data glossary.

What it means in practice

Egress has two meanings that are easy to mix up. In security and governance it is any data leaving a boundary: to a destination, a vendor, an AI API, a support tool or a telemetry service. In cloud commercial terms it is the fee a provider charges when data is moved out of its network.

The commercial meaning is changing in the EU. Under the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), Article 29 allows providers of data processing services to charge only reduced switching charges, no higher than their costs directly linked to the switching process, from 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, and from 12 January 2027 bars switching charges for the switching process 1. Whether ongoing multi-cloud egress is covered is disputed, and the Commission's Digital Omnibus proposal (November 2025) would carve out some custom services, so do not assume egress becomes free 3.

Egress matters for exit. A financial entity under DORA must put in place exit strategies for ICT services that support critical or important functions (Article 28(8)) 2, and an exit plan that cannot be costed is weak. Know in advance how profiles, identity links, consent history and event history can be exported, in what format and at what price.

Example (retail bank): a bank plans to leave a SaaS platform. Its exit plan lists the export format for profiles and consent history, the egress charge for moving the event archive, and the test that confirmed the export loads into the new system.

Data residency: where data stays.
Bring your own cloud (BYOC): egress stays in your account.
Destination: the main outbound path.
Critical or important function: triggers exit-strategy duties.
Event replay: needs retained event history.

Where it matters

EU Data Act and cloud switching: how SaaS exit costs change.
Cloud exit strategy for marketing and customer data: template and checklist.

Back to the customer data glossary or the Learn hub.

Frequently asked questions

Will the EU Data Act make egress free?

From 12 January 2027 providers may not impose switching charges for the switching process. Whether ordinary ongoing egress is covered is disputed and amendments are proposed. Do not budget on zero.

How do you control data egress?

Allowlist destinations, filter fields per destination, log every transfer, and review third-party scripts and AI calls. Treat each new integration as a new egress path.

Is egress control a privacy matter?

Yes. Every external transfer is a disclosure that needs a lawful basis and a contract, and for health data often a business associate agreement.

Sources

Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act), Article 29 Open source
Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA), Article 28(8) Open source
Disputed scope of multi-cloud egress and the Digital Omnibus proposal (secondary) Open source

This entry is general information, not legal advice.