- Many European consumers actively avoid American tech giants for privacy reasons
- Social media and cloud storage are priorities for consumers
- EU companies only have 15% of the European cloud market
Four out of five European consumers say it is important whether companies use European technology or not, confirming that digital sovereignty has now become a priority for the masses.
A survey by Proton of 3,000 consumers in the UK, France and Germany shows that they are starting to see a company’s digital infrastructure as part of its brand and values, rather than a back-office decision that has no impact on customers.
As a result, nearly half (45%) said they would actively avoid companies that store customer data with US firms, with more concerns about privacy and security than price or quality.
Digital sovereignty means a lot to consumers
This is also consistent with the European Commission’s “Eurobarometer” data, which reveals that three-fifths (58%) of the bloc’s citizens would be willing to switch to an EU-based digital service provider, even if it meant paying a higher fee.
The report argues that this reliance on US hyperscalers such as AWS, Microsoft, Google and Meta can no longer be seen as a neutral business decision in the eyes of European customers who are increasingly concerned about privacy, surveillance and geopolitical dependence.
Social media (48%), email (46%), messaging apps (40%) and other services that directly handle personal communication and information were seen as the most at risk among consumers, Proton found. Apart from communication, cloud storage (38%) was another major concern along with browsers (31%).
Two out of three (65%) now also believe that European small businesses should prioritize European technology providers over American ones, and not from a supportive local businesses point of view. Consumers are more interested in sovereignty, keeping investments in Europe and reducing dependence on foreign technology suppliers.
Fully four in five (83%) now worry about society’s reliance on Big Tech and how a small number of hyperscalers now dominate the market. Attitudes have changed rapidly, Proton says, due to worsening geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe and the ongoing debate over US surveillance laws, which prevent suppliers from fully offering sovereign capabilities.
The US CLOUD Act is of particular concern to European citizens because it allows US law enforcement to access data held by US technology companies, even if it is stored in European data centers.
Use of customer data is also a growing concern, with their information being used to train AI models that only serve to help the US giants.
The reality of American technology addiction
All this comes amid growing reliance on the US, with three-quarters (74%) of listed European companies relying on US technology providers, according to a previous Proton report.
Google and Microsoft alone account for 84% of the global office productivity market, with Amazon, Microsoft and Google together accounting for 66% of the cloud market. Proton’s full report details how European providers only have a combined 15% of the European cloud market.
“Buying technology from the US used to seem like a no brainer,” admitted Proton COO Raphael Auphan, indicating an understanding of why European consumers are so deeply dependent on American software.
Tariffs on European exports, NATO tensions and US criticism of EU regulation – all of which fall under Trump’s presidency – are to blame, the Swiss company says.
But Auphan now describes relying on American technology as a “commercial responsibility” for companies. “It’s increasingly clear that consumers care about digital supply chains, and American technology is becoming a weak link.”
“The EU runs on Microsoft,” Finnish MEP Aura Sally said at the 2026 Open Source Policy Summit. “The US could shut us down within an hour.”
However, an overnight migration away from US hyperscalers is not such an easy move, and while Proton is trying to offer some avenues with the recent addition of Gmail migration without downtime, a full-stack move could take years, buying well-funded US tech giants time to come up with more regional solutions to prevent customers from wanting to migrate in the first place.
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