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ARTICLE · 14 MAY 2026

Clarifying The Law On Digital And AI Sovereignty

As the race for AI development and adoption accelerates, claims for data sovereignty and concerns about extraterritorial legal reach rise. The pursuit of digital sovereignty is rightfully put in doubt...

GlobalTechnology

As the race for AI development and adoption accelerates, claims for data sovereignty and concerns about extraterritorial legal reach rise.1 The pursuit of digital sovereignty is rightfully put in doubt2 while it has also become “the watchword driving Canada’s digital policy agenda.”3 The statement by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat that “it is impossible for the GC to obtain a state of complete digital sovereignty … due to the absolute interconnected nature of the digital world,”4 applies to both government and business. Yet, the necessity for both states and industry to protect their data remains critical. We examine here the law applicable to digital and AI sovereignty to identify the legal measures available to block or, more realistically, manage foreign access to data.

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