STOCKHOLM, June 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) on

Monday said data stored by its European cloud customers would

stay in Europe, under European Law, with operations controlled

by its local personnel, and under full control of customers.

European companies and governments have been increasingly

worrying about their data being moved outside the continent into

the hands of other countries such as the U.S., pushing the

American companies such as Microsoft ( MSFT ) to announce safeguards.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) in April laid out plans to protect user data as it

expands its cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, including

respecting European laws seeking to rein in the power of large

technology companies.

On Monday, the company said all remote access by Microsoft ( MSFT )

engineers to the systems that store and process European data

would be approved and monitored by European resident personnel

in real-time.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) said its sovereign private cloud is in preview

mode currently and will be generally available later this year.