A method for accessing customer data includes receiving an access request requesting access to customer data stored on a storage abstraction. The access request includes a justification that specifies a purpose/reason for requesting access to the customer data. The method also includes validating the justification, and after validating the justification, transmitting the justification to an external key management service associated with a customer of the customer data. The external key management service is configured to grant or deny access to the customer data based on the justification. The method also includes receiving an approved access token from the external key management service when the external key management service grants access to the customer data and accessing the customer data stored on the storage abstraction using the approved access token received from the external key management service.