The answer is to use Organization Policies to enforce a resource location constraint and then delete the US backups. This is correct because the `constraints/gcp.resourceLocations` policy acts as a proactive guardrail, preventing the creation of any Google Cloud resources—including backup replicas—outside the specified EU regions, which directly addresses the misconfigured backup policy. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Organization Policies enforce data residency at the organization level, a common trap being that engineers often try to fix the backup policy itself rather than applying a global constraint that blocks all non-compliant resource creation. A key memory tip is to think of Organization Policies as a “fence” that stops resources from being born in the wrong location, while deletion handles the cleanup of existing violations.
PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A global e-commerce company is using Google Cloud to store customer data subject to GDPR. They have implemented data residency controls to keep data within the EU. However, during a routine audit, the compliance team discovers that some backups of customer data are being replicated to a US region due to a misconfigured backup policy. The data includes personal information. The company must ensure that all data remains within the EU. What should the team do to prevent this from recurring and remediate the current situation?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Organization Policies to enforce a constraint that disables the creation of resources outside the EU, and then delete the US backups.
Option C is correct because Organization Policies allow the company to enforce a resource location constraint (e.g., `constraints/gcp.resourceLocations`), which prevents the creation of any Google Cloud resources outside the EU. This proactively stops misconfigured backups from being replicated to non-EU regions. Deleting the US backups after applying the policy remediates the current GDPR violation by removing the non-compliant data.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Delete the backups in the US region immediately and reconfigure the backup policy to only use EU regions.
Why it's wrong here
Does not prevent future misconfigurations.
✗
Enable Access Transparency for the US backups to monitor access.
Why it's wrong here
Only logging, not prevention.
✓
Use Organization Policies to enforce a constraint that disables the creation of resources outside the EU, and then delete the US backups.
Why this is correct
Enforces data residency and remediates current non-compliance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Encrypt the US backups with CMEK and leave them in place, as encryption satisfies GDPR.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption does not override data residency requirements.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between reactive fixes (deleting data) and proactive controls (Organization Policies), leading candidates to choose Option A because it seems immediate, while overlooking the need for a preventive guardrail.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Organization Policies use a hierarchical deny-by-default model; the `gcp.resourceLocations` constraint is evaluated at resource creation time and can be scoped to folders, projects, or the entire organization. Under the hood, the policy is enforced by the Resource Manager service, which checks the location against the allowed list before provisioning any resource, including Cloud Storage buckets and their replication targets. A real-world scenario is a company with multiple projects where a developer accidentally sets a backup bucket's location to `us-central1`; the Organization Policy would reject the creation outright, preventing the GDPR breach.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Supporting compliance requirements — This question tests Supporting compliance requirements — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Organization Policies to enforce a constraint that disables the creation of resources outside the EU, and then delete the US backups. — Option C is correct because Organization Policies allow the company to enforce a resource location constraint (e.g., `constraints/gcp.resourceLocations`), which prevents the creation of any Google Cloud resources outside the EU. This proactively stops misconfigured backups from being replicated to non-EU regions. Deleting the US backups after applying the policy remediates the current GDPR violation by removing the non-compliant data.
What should I do if I get this PCSE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This PCSE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCSE exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.