Our position: a goal, not a claim of full sovereignty
Novasean supports greater customer control over data, access and the ability to change suppliers. We do not claim full digital sovereignty or complete customer autonomy today. We can evidence some infrastructure and backup locations, but not yet the whole chain of supplier ownership, administrator access jurisdictions, technical dependencies and tested exit capability.
That gap has practical causes. Our website and portal use different systems from the customer VPS offer; their backup destinations are not the same. The portal backup still uses a Canadian destination, while a defined Managed VPS schedule specifies Netherlands storage. The supplier and access evidence for every service has not been assembled, and an export-and-exit exercise has not demonstrated that a customer application can be restored elsewhere. Replacing the portal destination also requires selecting and verifying a new EU system before cutover. Until then, we will describe the current arrangements rather than claim the target has been achieved.
The defined VM Start with Managed OS schedule already grants root access and explicit switching, retrieval and erasure terms when it is part of an accepted Order. That is meaningful customer control, but it does not resolve every supplier, access or location question across Novasean’s services.
For customers, use the location and backup facts below only for the service they describe. Check the effective Order, schedule and data processing agreement (DPA); a portal location notice does not automatically describe a customer VPS or another service.
Sovereignty and autonomy answer different questions
Data location tells you where a system or copy is stored. Sovereignty is broader: it includes which organisations and jurisdictions can influence the service, who operates it, how data and systems can be accessed, and which technical dependencies constrain your choices. A server in the EU does not, by itself, prove EU-only access or full independence.
Customer autonomy is your practical ability to make and carry out decisions: retain authorised account access, control your own domain and application where applicable, obtain usable data exports, choose recovery actions and leave under clear terms. Those capabilities need to be defined and tested; they cannot be inferred from the word “managed”.
The European Commission’s Cloud Sovereignty Framework also assesses multiple objectives, rather than treating location as the whole answer. It is a reference for questions to ask, not a certification or assessment of Novasean.
What the current location records say
Novasean’s published data-location notice says the public website and separate client portal run on Novasean-managed infrastructure at Worldstream in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands. It also says the client-portal server is included in scheduled backups using the existing HostDZire service, whose supplier identifies Montreal/Leaseweb in Canada. The notice does not guarantee that every new record already has a usable backup, a fixed expiry date for each copy or EU-only access.
The defined VM Start with Managed OS service schedule is separate. Only when an accepted Order incorporates that schedule, the virtual machine is located in the Netherlands and its included daily VM/server backup goes to the existing Proxmox Backup Server in the same Netherlands data centre as the Proxmox cluster. The schedule describes VM-level coverage and retention tiers. Because the backup is in the same data centre, it is not a geographically independent copy; a data-centre-wide incident could affect both. A missed job may reduce recovery points, and the schedule gives no RPO, RTO or application-consistent database restore guarantee.
Do not infer that a customer’s VPS backup is in Canada from the portal arrangement, or that every Novasean service and copy is in the EU from the VPS schedule. Confirm the exact service, data set, destination and terms in your Order.
The planned move from Canada to EU backup storage
Novasean has decided to replace the Canadian destination used for the client-portal backup with backup storage in the EU. The current direction is dedicated storage in the Netherlands, but implementation has been deferred to the programme backlog. No supplier has been selected or hardware purchased, and migration has not started. As at 14 October 2026, the published location notice’s Canadian arrangement remains the current state for that portal backup.
We will update the location information after the replacement is in service and the actual destination has been verified. Until then, customers should treat the portal backup as Canada-hosted under the current notice. The intended sequence still requires supplier, capacity and contract qualification, verified backup and isolated restore, cutover, and only then cancellation and deletion of the old service and copies. The deferred move concerns this portal backup; it does not change the separate Netherlands PBS arrangement stated in the VM Start with Managed OS schedule.
What is not yet proven
Novasean’s public customer-control information identifies open evidence gaps: supplier ownership and control, employee work locations and access to readable customer data still need verification. For the portal backup path, the supplier linkage, complete processing and onward-access terms, transfer evidence for each leg and coverage of every record or copy have not all been established. We have not completed a full independent portability exercise. These gaps are why we do not claim full sovereignty, EU-only processing or access, certification, or that every customer can leave immediately without conditions. They are evidence gaps; this article does not conclude that a particular processing activity is unlawful.
The exact VM Start with Managed OS schedule does provide defined switching, assistance, retrieval and deletion terms when it is incorporated into an accepted Order. Those rights do not establish that every other Novasean service has the same terms or that every application will work unchanged at a new provider. The backup and recovery terms also require service-specific schedules for scope, destination, supplier, jurisdictions, access, retention and restore responsibilities. Existing service agreements remain unchanged.
What this means for customers
- If you use the client portal: treat its scheduled server backup as Canada-hosted under the current notice until Novasean verifies and announces the completed move. The move is planned for EU storage, with the Netherlands as the current direction; no cutover date or replacement supplier is established.
- If your accepted Order incorporates the VM Start with Managed OS schedule: the VM and its daily VM-level PBS backup are specified in the Netherlands data centre. This is not a geographically independent backup. You retain root access and manage your applications, databases, content, users and domain/DNS settings; you must validate your application after a change or restore.
- For that same scheduled service: the schedule defines a route to switch provider, move to your own infrastructure or request erasure, with a notice period of no more than one month, a normal 30-calendar-day transition after that period, reasonable assistance and at least 30 days to retrieve exportable data after transition. The schedule has no separate switching, data-egress or early-termination charge; optional application work may be separately quoted. It does not promise that another provider will reproduce every managed feature. Read the current schedule for the exact process and contract terms.
- Before placing an order or processing sensitive data: confirm the service-specific storage and backup locations, who can access them, the exact retention and recovery scope, and the applicable DPA. Keep application-level exports and recovery steps where the Order leaves those with you.
For practical recovery checks, see what a website backup must contain and how to understand a backup retention window.
Frequently asked questions
Are all Novasean backups in the EU today? No. The current published notice identifies a Canadian backup destination for the client portal. The VM Start with Managed OS schedule separately specifies a daily VM backup in the same Netherlands data centre as the cluster, but only for an accepted Order incorporating that schedule.
Has the Canadian portal backup already moved? No. Novasean has decided to replace that destination with EU storage, with the Netherlands as the current direction. The supplier is not selected and the migration is not complete.
Does Netherlands hosting prove full sovereignty? No. Location alone does not establish supplier ownership, applicable jurisdictions, staff access, technology dependencies or a tested exit.
Does this article change my current contract? No. It explains the published location information and Novasean’s stated direction. Your existing agreement remains in force; check the terms incorporated into your specific Order.
Sources and technical references
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