- A
Set up VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU.
VPC Service Controls can prevent data access from outside the EU, further ensuring compliance.
- B
Enable Access Transparency logs to monitor access by Google support personnel.
Why wrong: Access Transparency audits Google access, not data location.
- C
Use Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to automatically redact personal data before storage.
Why wrong: DLP redacts but does not enforce residency.
- D
Configure Organization Policies to restrict resource creation to EU regions only.
Organization policies can enforce data residency by restricting resources to EU regions.
- E
Use CMEK with a key stored in Cloud HSM located in a US region to encrypt data.
Why wrong: Using a key in the US region does not ensure data stays in EU; keys should be in same region.
Quick Answer
The answer is to configure Organization Policies to restrict resource creation to EU regions only and to use VPC Service Controls to block data access from outside the EU. These two controls work together to enforce GDPR data residency on Google Cloud: the Organization Policy acts as a preventive guardrail by physically limiting where resources like Cloud Storage buckets or BigQuery datasets can be created, while VPC Service Controls provide a detective and preventive security perimeter that stops data exfiltration or access from non-EU locations. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this pairing tests your understanding of the layered defense model—many candidates mistakenly choose only a single control or confuse VPC Service Controls with IAM, but remember that residency enforcement requires both location restriction and access boundary. A common trap is thinking that simply choosing an EU region during deployment is sufficient, but without the Organization Policy, a user could later create resources elsewhere. Memory tip: think “Location Lock plus Perimeter Block” to recall the two essential controls for GDPR data residency enforcement.
PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 multinational corporation must comply with GDPR requirements for storing and processing personal data of EU citizens. The company is using Google Cloud and wants to ensure that data remains within the European Union. Which TWO actions should the organization take? (Select TWO.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Set up VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU.
Option A is correct because VPC Service Controls create a security perimeter around Google Cloud resources, allowing you to restrict data access based on attributes like IP address or geographic location. By configuring VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU, the organization can enforce that data stored and processed in Google Cloud remains within the European Union, directly supporting GDPR compliance for data residency.
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.
- ✓
Set up VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU.
Why this is correct
VPC Service Controls can prevent data access from outside the EU, further ensuring compliance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable Access Transparency logs to monitor access by Google support personnel.
Why it's wrong here
Access Transparency audits Google access, not data location.
- ✗
Use Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to automatically redact personal data before storage.
Why it's wrong here
DLP redacts but does not enforce residency.
- ✓
Configure Organization Policies to restrict resource creation to EU regions only.
Why this is correct
Organization policies can enforce data residency by restricting resources to EU regions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use CMEK with a key stored in Cloud HSM located in a US region to encrypt data.
Why it's wrong here
Using a key in the US region does not ensure data stays in EU; keys should be in same region.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between data protection controls (like DLP or encryption) and data residency controls (like VPC Service Controls or Organization Policies), leading candidates to mistakenly select options that protect data but do not enforce geographic boundaries.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Service Controls use context-aware access policies that can evaluate the requester's IP address, identity, and device attributes to allow or deny access to Google Cloud APIs. When configured with a geographic restriction (e.g., using the `requested_ip_geo` condition), the policy can block any API call originating from outside the EU, effectively preventing data exfiltration or access from non-compliant locations. This is distinct from IAM, which controls who can access resources, but not from where.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCSE question test?
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: Set up VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU. — Option A is correct because VPC Service Controls create a security perimeter around Google Cloud resources, allowing you to restrict data access based on attributes like IP address or geographic location. By configuring VPC Service Controls to block access from outside the EU, the organization can enforce that data stored and processed in Google Cloud remains within the European Union, directly supporting GDPR compliance for data residency.
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.
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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 →
Same concept, more angles
5 more ways this is tested on PCSE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A multinational corporation must store all data subject to GDPR in the European Union. They have multiple projects and want to enforce this at the organization level. Which approach should they use to prevent resource creation outside allowed locations?
medium- A.Configure VPC Service Controls to limit network traffic to EU regions
- B.Use Cloud Deployment Manager to deploy resources only in EU regions
- ✓ C.Apply Organization Policy constraints (constraints/gcp.resourceLocations) with allowed regions in EU
- D.Enable Cloud Audit Logs to monitor resource locations and alert on violations
Why C: Organization policies provide centralized control to constrain resource locations, ensuring all projects under the organization adhere to the data residency requirement.
Variation 2. A multi-national corporation must prevent data exfiltration from a project containing PII for GDPR compliance. They want to restrict access to only allow data transfer within the organization. Which Google Cloud service meets this requirement?
medium- A.Use firewall rules to block all egress traffic except to approved IP ranges.
- ✓ B.Create a VPC Service Control perimeter that includes the project and restricts access to other perimeters.
- C.Set IAM policies to deny the storage.objectViewer role to non-compliant users.
- D.Configure Cloud NAT for the VPC to route traffic through a single IP.
Why B: VPC Service Controls allow you to define perimeters that protect the resources and data of Google Cloud services. By creating a perimeter that includes the project containing PII, you can restrict data transfer to only within the organization, preventing exfiltration to external networks or unauthorized identities, which directly meets GDPR compliance requirements.
Variation 3. A multinational corporation must comply with GDPR and requires that data stored in BigQuery is physically located in the European Union. They have set up BigQuery datasets in the EU region. However, a compliance audit reveals that some queries may process data in the US region due to BigQuery's multi-region behavior. What should the organization do to ensure data remains in the EU?
hard- ✓ A.Create BigQuery datasets in a specific European region (e.g., europe-west1) instead of the EU multi-region.
- B.Use the EU multi-region dataset and configure VPC Service Controls to restrict access.
- C.Enable BigQuery CMEK with keys stored in a European Cloud KMS key ring.
- D.Use BigQuery reservations to guarantee that data processing happens in the EU.
Why A: Option A is correct because creating a BigQuery dataset in a specific European region (e.g., europe-west1) ensures that all data storage and query processing are physically confined to that single region. In contrast, the EU multi-region (EU) is a geographic entity that includes multiple Google Cloud regions within the European Union, and BigQuery may process data in any of those regions, including potentially outside the EU if the multi-region expands. By using a specific regional dataset, the organization guarantees that data never leaves the designated European location, meeting GDPR's data residency requirements.
Variation 4. Refer to the exhibit. A security engineer reviews this IAM policy. Which compliance requirement does this policy help satisfy?
hard- A.Key rotation schedule for encryption keys
- ✓ B.Data residency by limiting access to European regions
- C.Audit logging of data access
- D.Encryption of data at rest
Why B: The IAM policy includes a `Condition` block using `aws:RequestedRegion` to explicitly deny access to any AWS region outside of the specified European regions (eu-west-1, eu-central-1, etc.). This enforces data residency by ensuring that API calls that would create or modify resources are restricted to approved geographic boundaries, helping satisfy compliance requirements such as GDPR or local data sovereignty laws.
Variation 5. A healthcare organization must store protected health information (PHI) in Google Cloud and ensure compliance with HIPAA. They need to prevent data from being stored outside the United States. Which Google Cloud product should they use to enforce this requirement?
easy- A.Cloud Healthcare API
- ✓ B.Organization Policy
- C.VPC Service Controls
- D.Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API
Why B: Organization Policy allows you to define and enforce constraints on Google Cloud resources at the organization, folder, or project level. The `gcp.resourceRestriction` constraint can be used to restrict the location where data can be stored, ensuring PHI remains within the United States to meet HIPAA requirements.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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