Data in motion, also known as data in transit, is the transmission of digital information from one location to another. This can include: Data in motion is just one of three data states, including data at rest and data in use.

In today’s age of rapidly increasing data collection, data privacy laws are becoming more prevalent than ever. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is considered the worldwide benchmark of data privacy law. While many countries have followed similar regulations, the United States does not have a GDPR equivalent. Instead of national standards and regulations, individual states pass their own privacy laws.

The data protection landscape is changing. The rapid adoption of cloud and software as a service (SaaS) greatly affects the financial industry, where many institutions rely on SaaS vendors for data protection previously implemented in-house. Moody’s Analytics relies on cloud service providers (CSPs) to adequately protect its data, showcasing the need for scalability, industry cost controls, and flexibility.