Microsoft, Google, and AWS recently published “sovereign clouds” - aiming to reassure European customers they have control over their data.
But this is nothing more than an illusion – one could say a Trojan Horse at Europe’s digital gates.
Despite their marketing, these providers remain US companies. That means they are subject to the CLOUD Act, which obliges them to hand over data to US authorities. It does not matter whether the servers are in Frankfurt, Paris, or Brussels – European data can be sent to the US at any time, without a court order, and without informing affected customers.
Even advanced technical safeguards can’t change this legal fact. The promised control is a dangerous illusion.
Digital sovereignty doesn’t come from shiny new product names such as these “sovereign clouds”.
Digital sovereignty comes from full legal and technical control. Everything else is nothing more than sovereign washing. Fortunately, Europe has great solutions already.
Read the full article: "Sovereign cloud" or "sovereign washing"? A Trojan Horse at Europe's digital gates. | Tuta