Is It Time for UK & EU Businesses to Rethink Their Dependence on U.S. Cloud Giants?
A quiet storm is brewing amongst ID decision makers and business leaders across Europe. This time around, the conversation is not only around cloud costs or service – it’s about sovereignty and control.
With the return of Donald Trump to the political stage and the renewed spotlight on the U.S. Cloud Act, digital leaders in the UK and EU are being forced to ask a difficult question: Who really owns our data — and who can access it?
The Cloud Act: A Legal Lever with Global Reach
The Cloud Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act), passed in 2018, gives the U.S. government legal authority to demand data from any U.S.-based tech company, regardless of where that data is physically stored. That means even if your customer data is hosted in a data centre in London or Frankfurt, if it’s on AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud – U.S. federal authorities can gain access via a subpoena or warrant.
A 2019 article by Linklaters summed it up plainly:
And that was before Trump 2.0.
Trump’s Return Signals More Than a Policy Shift
While his new administration hasn’t directly commented on data sovereignty yet, signals are already flashing. As outlined in a recent post by XWiki, Trump’s previous term was marked by sweeping executive orders, economic protectionism, and an “America First” stance that blurred the lines between national security and commercial oversight.
That mindset isn’t just back – it’s potentially bolder.
If you’re a UK or EU business storing sensitive customer, financial, or operational data on a U.S.-tech cloud platform, the implications are real. The intersection of U.S. law, foreign policy, and cloud architecture is now a tangible business risk – not just a compliance footnote.
The Shift from Tech Preference to Strategic Sovereignty
This isn’t just a tech debate anymore – it’s about sovereignty, resilience, and strategic autonomy. When foreign governments can reach into your infrastructure through legislation, it lays bare both the public and private sectors over-reliance on US based technology. We await the UK governments response and how it impacts their somewhat blinkered ‘public cloud-first’ strategy. Our recent whitepaper, ‘Public Cloud, does the reality live up to the hype?’ highlighted some of the operational impacts of adopting a public cloud first strategy. Let’s also not forget the questions raised about the impact to our economy of using US tech firms, like Amazon, who pay significantly less in corporation tax than other UK owned and operated businesses.
So far, over 100 Dutch companies recently called for independence from U.S. hyperscalers. In Canada, government leaders are urging domestic businesses to de-risk their cloud strategy. France and Germany are ramping up investments in sovereign cloud platforms.
Meanwhile, UK firms are still heavily reliant on the big three: AWS, Microsoft, and Google.
What Should UK Businesses Be Asking Right Now?
In the context of the Cloud Act and broader geopolitical instability, here are the questions every CIO, CISO, and COO should be asking:
- Where is our critical data actually stored — and who owns the infrastructure?
- Do our cloud providers offer sufficient contractual assurances on data sovereignty?
- If a U.S. subpoena were issued tomorrow, would we even know?
- Do we have a contingency or diversification plan beyond the U.S. cloud ecosystem?
What Might a Resilient, Sovereign Cloud Strategy Look Like?
British businesses should be taking a multi-pronged approach when reviewing their strategies, considering:
- Hybrid and multi-cloud architectures that include EU-based providers
- Legal review of all cloud contracts for jurisdictional risk
- Clear RTO/RPO and data classification frameworks that separate local vs. global exposure
- Board-level discussions about cloud not just as a cost centre, but as a strategic vulnerability
Digital infrastructure is national infrastructure now. If you wouldn’t outsource your power grid to another government, why would you do it with your data?
From Convenience to Conscious Control
Cloud computing has delivered unprecedented convenience, scalability, and performance. But that convenience now comes with sovereignty strings attached.
For UK and European businesses navigating an increasingly unstable geopolitical and legal environment, it may be time to stop assuming cloud platforms are neutral — and start treating them as what they’ve become: political infrastructure.
