- Many European consumers actively avoid American tech giants for privacy reasons.
- Social networks and cloud storage are priorities for consumers
- EU companies only have 15% of the European cloud market
Four in five European consumers say it is important whether or not companies use European technology, confirming that digital sovereignty has now become a priority for the masses.
A study carried out by Proton among 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 an administrative decision that has no impact on customers.
As a result, nearly half (45%) said they would actively avoid companies that store customer data at US companies, worrying more about privacy and security than price or quality.
Digital sovereignty says a lot to consumers
This is also in line 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 dependence 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.
Proton found that social media (48%), email (46%), messaging apps (40%) and other services that directly handle communications and personal information were seen as the highest risk among consumers. In addition to communications, cloud storage (38%) was another big concern, along with browsers (31%).
Two in three (65%) now also believe that European small businesses should prioritize European technology providers over American ones, and not from the point of view of supporting local companies. Consumers are more interested in sovereignty, keeping investments within Europe and reducing dependence on foreign technology providers.
As many as four in five (83%) now worry about society’s dependence on big tech and how a small number of hyperscalers now dominate the market. Attitudes have changed rapidly, Proton says, due to deteriorating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Europe and continued debate over US surveillance laws that prevent providers from fully offering sovereign options.
The US CLOUD Act is a specific concern for European citizens because it allows US authorities to access data held by US technology companies, even if it is stored in European data centers.
The use of customer data is also a growing concern, as their information can be used to train artificial intelligence models that only serve to help these American giants.
The reality of the technological dependence of the United States
All of this comes amid growing dependence on the United States: three-quarters (74%) of listed European companies rely on American technology providers, according to a previous Proton report.
Google and Microsoft alone represent 84% of the global office productivity market, and Amazon, Microsoft and Google together represent 66% of the cloud market. Proton’s full report details how European providers together only own 15% of the European cloud market.
“Buying US technology used to seem like a no-brainer,” admitted Proton COO Raphael Auphan, indicating that he understands why European consumers rely so deeply on US software.
Tariffs on European exports, NATO tensions and US criticism of EU regulation, all under Trump, are to blame, the Swiss company says.
But Auphan now describes reliance on American technology as a “commercial responsibility” for companies. “It is increasingly clear that consumers are concerned about digital supply chains and US technology is becoming a weak link.”
“The EU runs on Microsoft,” said Finnish MEP Aura Sally at the 2026 Open Source Policy Summit. “The US could take us offline in 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 zero-downtime Gmail migration, a full move could take years, giving the 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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