Dave Cottlehuber, the founder of SkunkWerks, a small Austrian tech infrastructure firm, has expressed his decision to move servers and databases away from US providers to European services since the beginning of the year. He emphasizes that this decision is driven by respect for privacy and cybersecurity, stating, “Privacy is a right but not a privilege.” Cottlehuber argues that this move is also strategic, as moving away from the US administration’s taxing policies could be beneficial for his small business. He cautions potential customers to expect a different treatment of their taxes, reinforcing the importance of data privacy.
Stephanie Schmidt, CEO of Medicusdata, a European text-to-speech company, has also expressed concerns about the shift in data management to Europe. “Since the beginning of 2025,” she noted, “more customers have been moving to natively European providers.” Schmidt highlights that some services, such as data residency guarantees, now have been moved to Nöbauer’s Exoscale, signaling the growingIntegration of Europe into the global cloud ecosystem. Her customers are being encouraged to adopt these services, highlighting the growing importance of European[mask]cloud solutions.
Harry Staight, AWS spokesperson, however, cautions that moving data from AWS to EU providers is not accurate. He mentions that AWS Cloud sovereignty-by-design means it supports encryption with customer-managed keys that cannot be retrieved by AWS. Staight stresses that AWS has no direct impact on EU-US data sharing, and that the CLOUD Act in the US provides additional safeguards for cloud data, dispelling any misconceptions about limited mobility from the US.
Marko Saric, cofounder of Plausible, observes a significant increase in visitors to the EuropeanAlternatives website over the past year. Saric notes that while global customers are growing, the shift may remain limited, with organic growth contributions from monthly data centers up to March.
Bert Hubert, from a former government regulator, criticized European cloud firms for struggling to compete with US providers like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, noting that services cannot easily be found elsewhere. Hubert accused Europe of not being sufficiently prepared to adapt to the rise of US analytics and cloud technology, particularly as the US continues to manipulate certifications like the CLOUD Act.
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From Cottlehuber and Schmidt’s differing perspectives, an Enablesment for European Cloud Returns to Global leadership, these challenges highlight the complexity of data movement across the blockchains.gt
– In response, Schwäte, former European Parliament member, advocates for a Europe-first approach, urging a steps for the EU to compete on the global stage and face real change.
– The situation underscores the importance of balancing innovation with security, as Europe faces growing demands from U.S. corporations, particularly in data management.
– Moving to EU providers appears more feasible and in line with protecting customer data, but it also introduces its own security considerations.
