PassW0rd’s data sovereignty programme Borders in Cyberspace
The US president Donald Trump’s erratic behaviour on the world stage has provoked a massive European data sovereignty backlash as France becomes the latest nation to reject US Big Tech.
The announcement that the French Government will switch from the Microsoft operating system to the Linux open source platform is part of an ongoing attempt to reduce European reliance on US technology.
The trend has already seen announcements from the Dutch, and Danish governments and some German states announcing they were adopting Linux due to concerns over what is being called US ‘data imperialism.’ The US president has publicly stated that it is America’s intention to have 100% of the world’s data running over US computer infrastructure.
Regaining control of its digital destiny
In announcing the French plans, the Civil Service Minister David Amiel, couched the decision as a revolt stating the move was an attempt to “regain control of our digital destiny,” adding France; “can no longer accept that it doesn’t have control over its data and digital infrastructure.
The growing and angry European rebellion against US ‘Big Tech’ is underpinned by an intensifying sense that the US is imposing its digital will on the Continent and ignoring national laws and concerns about online safety.
A day before the announcement. Future Intelligence’s PassWord radio programme, broadcast ‘Borders in Cyberspace‘ on ResonanceFM, the first of a two-part series on data sovereignty exploring the backlash and how independence from the US can be accomplished.
Speaking in the PassW0rd programme, the firebrand Finnish MEP Aura Sulla said that it was essential for European security for Europe to have technology it controlled. Sulla pointed to Microsoft’s decision to cut off the email account of Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, as a pivotal moment.
Khan’s email was cut off by Microsoft, one of the group of companies along with Meta, Apple, Google and Amazon that are known as hyperscalers, after Khan was sanctioned by the US Government for issuing an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza.
The kill switch that kicked off the row
An action that many European politicians are describing as the Microsoft ‘kill switch’. Pointing out that the company could just as easily cut off a government as an individual.
Sulla also stressed the fact that US companies are all subject to the US Cloud Act. This means they are obliged to share any data on demand with the US Government irrespective of whose data it is and where it is held.
“So, now it’s a momentum for European defence, for the comprehensive security approach, and for our technology to finally stand on our own.
“There are a couple of things that happened that made a huge push. It’s of course, Microsoft using the kill switch last year, and showing us that they can do that if they want, because all these hyperscalers from the US, are under the US law.
“No matter how they are trying to do their PR case, that they have a company also here in Europe.
“So they are under a US law, meaning that they are under a Trump administration and whatever Trump thinks next.”
A flexing of power in the cloud
And it is the latter power, conferred on the US Government by the US Cloud Act, that has infuriated the Europeans. Cutting off Khan’s email account was proof that the US would act extra-territorially, the US Cloud Act shows how far the US could reach.
Quite literally, according to Sulla, a former head of EU Affairs for Meta, being able to go to the heart of countries and having the ability to turn off government systems and seize the most personal of data.
“So, they showed us in France, with an international court prosecutor, that they can use the kill switch and cut our access to their services whenever they want. And I think that really made a change in Brussels, because many of us, we have been advocating also, like, you know, sovereignty for a long time.
“However, now it’s a new time, a new phase. And we need to rapidly now build our own technology sector.”
Sulla’s outrage is shared by other politicians in Europe and the UK and Microsoft’s actions over Khan’s email account were also highlighted in PassW0rd’s ‘Borders in Cyberspace’ programme by Lord Clement Jones, the House of Lords Liberal Democrat spokesman for Science, Innovation and Technology.
UK data sovereignty complacency
Lord Clement Jones expressed shock at the complacency of the UK Government.
“It isn’t just on the continent that there’s an issue with Microsoft. The Scottish police found Microsoft couldn’t guarantee to them that data about criminals and crime prevention couldn’t be exported to the States or retained in the States and be subject to the Cloud Act.
“So, this idea that, your data can be kept in the States and transmitted across borders, is a direct violation of your personal privacy. It can be worked on, even if it’s not as sensitive as criminal information, but it’s still your personal data. What you’re doing is giving an advantage to those who hold that data, and if that data is held abroad, you have no sovereign data advantage.
“I’ve been interrogating the UK Government on this, but it seems oblivious to the desirability of having sovereign cloud capability. The UK seems to think it’s a great idea to have the civil service use US cloud services,” said Lord Clement-Jones.
Four days after the French announcement a report by the UK Open Rights Group (ORG) warned that the UK is over-reliant on a small number of big US tech companies. The ORG Report said that US big tech services used by the UK Government to provide critical datacentres, software and digital infrastructure, was placing UK national security at risk. The ORG report was backed by a number of UK MPs.
In the event of Europe winning the War of digital Independence from the US, quite who will send Europe a Statue of Liberty to commemorate the event is unclear.
TechTV’s data sovereignty debate, the British perspective
Future Intelligence and our sister organisation TechTV have been following data sovereignty since its beginnings in 1996. For our latest discussion in the TechTV Studio on the topic in August 2025 click on the link below.
