It’s not every day that Microsoft publicly admits to European data not being safe from access by US government agencies.
However, that is exactly what Anton Carniaux, Microsoft France’s Director of Public and Legal Affairs, was forced to acknowledge under sworn testimony during a recent French Senate inquiry (transcript). Although his response “only” actually referred to services sourced via the national public procurement agency UGAP, the acknowledgement has far-reaching consequences.
In the past, we have often used this and other channels to point out that cloud providers based in the USA are subject to US laws such as the Patriot Act and CLOUD Act, which require companies to cooperate fully with the US government and its intelligence agencies. For this reason, many experts take the view that it’s fundamentally impossible to use Microsoft 365 in Europe without contravening the EU’s data protection regulations. In fact, a growing number of Microsoft’s customers are using the cloud versions of Office, Exchange and Sharepoint – partly because the vendor has made on-prem and single license options progressively less attractive.
Microsoft is very well aware, of course, that the legal uncertainty regarding third-party access to its data or even the potential shutting off of services has long been a source of unease for its European customers, and takes advantage of every opportunity to allay those fears. At a recent Atlantic Council event in Brussels, Microsoft’s Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith made several digital commitments, including a promise that Microsoft would take the US government to court, if necessary, to protect its European customers from any government order compelling Microsoft to suspend or cease access to its services.
For real digital sovereignty, users naturally need to turn to providers based in the EU. In a recent statement, our founder and CEO, Martin Hager, got to the heart of this current state of affairs: “The better approach is to opt for mid-sized, European providers which combine specialization with flexibility.” Following Microsoft’s recent disclosures, why not give local sourcing a try?
