EU weighs restricting use of US cloud platforms to process sensitive gov data

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The European Union is considering restricting member governments' use of US cloud platforms like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon for sensitive data, aiming to reduce dependence on US digital infrastructure.

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Cached at: 05/17/26, 06:49 PM

# EU weighs restricting use of US cloud platforms to process sensitive government data – OSnews Source: [https://www.osnews.com/story/144943/eu-weighs-restricting-use-of-us-cloud-platforms-to-process-sensitive-government-data/](https://www.osnews.com/story/144943/eu-weighs-restricting-use-of-us-cloud-platforms-to-process-sensitive-government-data/) [Home](https://www.osnews.com/)\>[Legal](https://www.osnews.com/topic/legal/)\>EU weighs restricting use of US cloud platforms to process sensitive government data > The European Union is considering rules that would restrict its member governments’ use of U\.S\. cloud providers to handle sensitive data, sources familiar with the talks told CNBC\. [↫ Kai Nicol\-Schwarz at CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/07/eu-commission-cloud-sensitive-data.html) The fact that this has only just become a possible reality now, and not decades ago, is beyond me, but better late than never, I suppose\. The Americans voted en masse \(not voting is a vote for the winner\!\) for Trump twice, and there’s no indication they won’t vote for such an anti\-Europe basket case again\. Their opinions and attitudes towards Europeans are clear: they dislike us deeply, and after the last few years, there’s no going back\. Violating trust is easy; restoring it takes decades\. Relying on the Americans for our digital infrastructure is, therefore, a monumentally stupid and self\-defeating idea\. Of course, many members states are addicted to the cloud services from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, so there’s going to be many individual member states who simply won’t reduce their dependency on the Americans of their own volition\. My own country of origin, The Netherlands, only recently signed off on the sale of its government ID services company and associated personal data to an American company, despite the vast majority of the Dutch House of Representatives telling them not to\. As such, it makes sense for the EU to step in and simply making it illegal to hand over sensitive data to the Americans\. Of course, we’ve got a long way to go, and I’m sure many of any possible proposed restrictions will be watered down considerably by pressure form major member states\. Addiction is a harsh disease\. #### About The Author ![](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSI3MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI3MiIgdmlld0JveD0iMCAwIDcyIDcyIj48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIiBzdHlsZT0iZmlsbDojY2ZkNGRiO2ZpbGwtb3BhY2l0eTogMC4xOyIvPjwvc3ZnPg==) ##### [Thom Holwerda](https://www.osnews.com/story/author/thom-holwerda/) Follow me on Mastodon[@\[email protected\]](https://exquisite.social/@thomholwerda)

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