Evernote CEO Phil Libin has weighed into the European data row, saying that increased regulation over where data should be stored won’t make it safer. On the contrary, it could make data even more vulnerable to hackers, he claimed.

Liblin’s comments came during an interview with the Wall Street Journal, where he said that European government’s desires to make companies store data about customers in local data centers were “cumbersome and silly”.

“Some of the proposed laws are really stupid,” Libin said. “We have to comply with even the stupid ones,” he bemoaned, without referring to exactly what legislation that was.

Some European governments have taken it upon themselves to insist that foreign organizations store their data within the geographical boundaries of the EU. The proposals have arisen out of concerns about who may have access to that data – especially in light of the Edward Snowden revelations about U.S. government spying. As a result, some European countries believe that by storing data locally, it will be beyond the reach of U.S. and other non-European law enforcement agencies.

As a result, some technology and storage firms have already begun building new data centers in Europe to meet the new requirements (which have not yet been enshrined in law). For instance, Apple has said it plans to spend $1.8 billion to construct two new data centers in Europe that will run exclusively on renewable energy.

But Libin decried the plans for extra legislation as being unneccesary, saying that all they would do is add another layer of bureaucracy.

“That’s not how data works,” he moaned. “It means that for a few years we’ll probably have to spend more time and money complying with things that in the end aren’t really going to make a difference.”

On the contrary, Libin said the plans could actually make data more vulnerable, because the process of storing it would become much more complex.

As for the issue of how companies collect, store and use data, Lubin said this isn’t an issue for Evernote because his company doesn’t sell or mine its user’s data. In fact, he would be happy for legislation in this area to increase, he said.

Libin may have a valid point about storing data in Europe being rather pointless, considering that the NSA is reportedly capable of tapping into data wherever it resides anyway, but one can’t help thinking he has other priorities. Evernote currently doesn’t have any European-based data centers, and the expense of building or renting one for all of its European customers would certainly be prohibitive.

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