Apple will splash out more than $2.5 billion on two 166,000 square metre data centres in Europe to safeguard itself against increasingly strict data regulations in the region.
The tech titan said it would spend €1.7 billion ($2.55 billion) on two centres located in Galway, Ireland, and Denmark’s central Jutland.
The centres will be used to hold data for a range of Apple products including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri. Apple said the centres are expected to create hundreds of local jobs and begin operations in 2017.
The Wall Street Journal reports the move comes as Europe prepares to crack down on companies wanting to transfer people’s personal information out of the region.
Europe is currently debating new laws that would see any company found to have breached the complex existing data transferring laws faces massive penalties.
The laws would see a company face fines of as much as €100 million ($1.44 million), or 5% of its annual revenue.
Kirsten Robb is a former journalist at SmartCompany. Previously, she worked at News Corp as a property reporter for Leader Newspapers and the Herald Sun, and holds a Masters of Journalism at Melbourne University.
