Network-based real-time distributed data compliance broker

1. A data processing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform:

maintaining, at a data compliance broker, a proxy pointer store identifying, for individual proxy pointers of a plurality of proxy pointers, corresponding geographical locations of persistent storage associated with the individual proxy pointers;

receiving, from a data service local to a requester of the data service, a request for processing data;

applying one or more data access policies to the request to identify, from amongst the plurality of proxy pointers, a proxy pointer for the request, wherein applying the one or more data access policies is based at least in part on a first geographical location of the requester; and

using the proxy pointer store to identify a second geographical location of a persistent storage associated with the proxy pointer for the request and to access the persistent storage to fulfill the request.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed cause the one or more processors to perform:

sending a remote policy request and metadata to a remote policy access point to provide one or more remote policies that are applicable to the remote policy request and the metadata; and,

upon receiving the one or more remote policies, invoking a remote policy execution point to cause the remote policy execution point to apply the one or more remote policies to the remote policy request and the metadata to determine whether a particular remote data service is configured to process the remote policy request, and if so, transmitting the remote policy request to the particular remote data service for processing.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more remote policies govern access to data persistently stored in remote storage devices.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the request is any one of: a data record create request, a data record read request, a data record update request, or a data record delete request.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data compliance broker is a federated broker and configured to cooperate with other federated brokers to ensure a uniform compliance with one or more remote policies.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data compliance broker is configured to communicate with a policy administration point to obtain one or more remote policies and updates for the one or more remote policies.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data service local to the requester of the data service is unable to process the request locally.

8. A data processing method comprising:

maintaining, at a data compliance broker, a proxy pointer store identifying, for individual proxy pointers of a plurality of proxy pointers, a corresponding geographical location of persistent storage associated with the individual proxy pointers;

receiving, from a data service local to a requester of the data service, a request for processing data;

applying one or more data access policies to the request to identify, from amongst the plurality of proxy pointers, a proxy pointer for the request, wherein applying the one or more data access policies is based at least in part on a first geographical location of the requester; and

using the proxy pointer store to identify a second geographical location of a persistent storage associated with the proxy pointer for the request and to access the persistent storage to fulfill the request.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

sending a remote policy request and metadata to a remote policy access point to provide one or more remote policies that are applicable to the remote policy request and the metadata; and,

upon receiving the one or more remote policies, invoking a remote policy execution point to cause the remote policy execution point to apply the one or more remote policies to the remote policy request and the metadata to determine whether a particular remote data service is configured to process the remote policy request, and if so, transmitting the remote policy request to the particular remote data service for processing.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more remote policies govern access to data persistently stored in remote storage devices.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the request is any one of: a data record create request, a data record read request, a data record update request, or a data record delete request.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more data access policies govern access to data persistently stored in local storage devices; and wherein the one or more remote policies govern access to data persistently stored in remote storage devices.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the data compliance broker is a federated broker and configured to cooperate with other federated brokers with each other to ensure a uniform compliance with the one or more remote policies.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the data compliance broker is configured to communicate with a policy administration point to obtain the one or more remote policies and updates for the one or more remote policies.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of:

maintaining, at a data compliance broker, a proxy pointer store identifying, for individual proxy pointers of a plurality of proxy pointers, a corresponding geographical location of persistent storage associated with the individual proxy pointers;

receiving, from a data service local to a requester of the data service, a request for processing data;

applying one or more data access policies to the request to identify, from amongst the plurality of proxy pointers, a proxy pointer for the request, wherein applying the one or more data access policies is base at least in part on a first geographical location of the requester; and

using the proxy pointer store to identify a second geographical location of a persistent storage associated with the proxy pointer for the request and to access the persistent storage to fulfill the request.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed cause the processors to performing:

sending a remote policy request and metadata to a remote policy access point to provide one or more remote policies that are applicable to the remote policy request and the metadata; and,

upon receiving the one or more remote policies, invoking a remote policy execution point to cause the remote policy execution point to apply the one or more remote policies to the remote policy request and the metadata to determine whether a particular remote data service is configured to process the remote policy request, and if so, transmitting the remote policy request to the particular remote data service for processing.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the one or more remote policies govern access to data persistently stored in remote storage devices.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the request is any one of: a data record create request, a data record read request, a data record update request, or a data record delete request.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the data compliance broker is a federated broker and configured to cooperate with other federated brokers to ensure a uniform compliance with one or more remote policies.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the data compliance broker is configured to communicate with a policy administration point to obtain the one or more remote policies and updates for the one or more remote policies.