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Sinosend gives you control over exactly where your files are stored — not just at the account level, but for every individual transfer. Whether you are sending contracts that must stay inside the EU, trade documents destined for a partner in Shanghai, or product catalogs for a buyer in Dubai, you choose the storage region before you send. Once set, that transfer’s files never leave that region.

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What data residency means

Data residency is the practice of ensuring that data is stored and processed within a specific geographic region or jurisdiction. For businesses in global trade, this matters for two distinct reasons:
  1. Compliance — many jurisdictions require certain categories of data (personal information, financial records, trade documents) to remain within their borders. GDPR in Europe, PIPL in China, and similar regulations in the UAE all have data localisation implications.
  2. Speed — files stored closer to your recipient download faster. A 50 MB product catalog stored in Hong Kong will open in seconds for a buyer in Shenzhen; the same file stored in Virginia will be noticeably slower.
Most file transfer services store all files in one or two regions and give you no choice. Sinosend’s per-transfer residency is an industry-first capability designed specifically for global trade workflows.

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Available regions

All eight regions are included at no extra cost on every paid Sinosend plan. There is no per-region surcharge.

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Plan region limits

The number of regions you can actively use depends on your plan: Region limits apply to the number of distinct regions you can use across your transfers. If you need access to more regions, upgrade your plan from your account settings.

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How to select a data region for a transfer

1

Start a new transfer

Click New Transfer from the Sinosend dashboard.
2

Upload your files

Add the files you want to send by clicking the upload area or dragging files in.
3

Open Transfer Settings

Click Settings to expand the transfer configuration panel.
4

Select your data region

Under Data Region, click the dropdown and choose the region where you want your files stored. The dropdown lists only the regions available on your current plan.
5

Confirm and send

Complete your transfer details (recipient email, expiry, password if required) and click Send. Your files are immediately written to the selected region and will not leave it.
You cannot change a transfer’s data region after it has been sent. If you need files stored in a different region, create a new transfer.

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Per-transfer granularity

Each transfer you send can use a different region. There is no account-wide default that locks all your transfers into one location. This means you can:
  • Send a product catalog to a Chinese factory using Mainland China (Shanghai)
  • Send the same day’s invoice to a German buyer using EU
  • Send a customs document to a Dubai freight forwarder using UAE & Middle East
All three transfers go out from the same account, each stored in the appropriate region for its recipient.
Set a transfer’s region to match your recipient’s country for the fastest download speeds. Files stored closer to recipients download noticeably faster, especially for large files like CAD drawings, videos, or photo libraries.

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GDPR compliance

When you select the EU region, your files are stored within the European Union and do not leave EU infrastructure for the lifetime of that transfer. This supports your obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when transferring personal data.
  • Data Processing Agreement (DPA) — a GDPR-compliant DPA is available on request. Contact support@sinosend.com to request your DPA.
  • Data subject rights — transfer deletion removes files from EU storage. You can delete a transfer at any time from your dashboard.
  • No third-country transfers — EU-region files are not replicated to other regions.
Selecting the EU region supports GDPR compliance for data at rest, but you remain the data controller. Review Sinosend’s Privacy Policy and DPA for full details of your responsibilities.

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How data residency affects download speed

Sinosend stores files at the selected region’s edge node. When your recipient opens the transfer link, their download is served from that node directly — no round-trip to a central origin server. The practical effect:
  • A recipient in Shanghai downloading from Mainland China (Shanghai) typically sees 2–10× faster speeds than downloading from a US-based server.
  • A recipient in Frankfurt downloading from the EU region avoids any transatlantic latency.
  • Choosing a region far from your recipient (e.g. US West for a recipient in Tokyo) will result in slower downloads. Match the region to your recipient whenever possible.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I see which region my files are stored in? Yes. Open any transfer from your dashboard and click into the transfer details. The Data Region field shows the region selected at the time of sending. What happens if I do not select a region? Sinosend applies a default region based on your account settings. You can set your preferred default region in Account Settings → Transfer Defaults. Can I use the same region for all my transfers? Yes. Set a default region in Account Settings → Transfer Defaults and it will be pre-selected every time you create a new transfer. You can still override it per transfer. Is there a cost to use more than one region? No. All available regions are included in your plan at no extra cost. The only limit is the number of distinct regions your plan allows (2 for Personal, 4 for Pro and Business). Does data residency apply to transfer metadata (recipient names, emails)? Transfer metadata is handled separately from file storage. Review Sinosend’s Privacy Policy for details on metadata handling.