For decades, Europe outsourced its digital infrastructure to US tech giants. Today, that choice has become a strategic liability.
Proton’s latest analysis reveals the extent of Europe’s dependence on US-based tech, and the results are alarming. We found that 74% of Europe’s publicly listed companies rely on US-based tech like Google and Microsoft.
This means these companies’ sensitive business information, everything from strategy plans to daily operations, relies on infrastructure controlled outside of Europe. This creates serious risks for European businesses and Europe as a whole.
- Business communications can be used to train foreign AI models.
- Sensitive data is exposed to foreign surveillance and legal overreach.
- Companies lose control over where and how their information is stored.
- Critical sectors — like utilities, transportation, and telecomms — are vulnerable to geopolitical tensions.
These Big Tech companies know this is an issue, which is why they claim to offer “sovereign clouds” with servers under EU jurisdiction. But if your data is on a server owned by a US company, US laws like the CLOUD Act(nuova finestra) give the US government access to it, regardless of where the server is located.
What we found
We wanted to understand just how widespread the problem is, so we analyzed the email domains of publicly listed companies in each European country. Using this, we could see which companies rely on US email providers. And seeing as email is the foundation of most companies’ tech stacks, the amount of European data at risk is likely far greater. When a company chooses Big Tech for email, it usually uses the full business suite, including its cloud storage, productivity apps, security tools, and more.
The results are concerning:
- France: 66% of publicly listed companies rely on US providers. In its automobiles and components sector, it’s 77%.
- UK: 88% of publicly listed companies depend on US tech for their email and communications.
- Spain: 74% of publicly listed companies rely on US services, including six sectors at 100%.
- Portugal: 72% of publicly listed businesses use US providers. In nine sectors, that figure is 100%.
- Ireland: In 19 sectors, 100% of publicly listed companies use US-based tech.
This isn’t just a tech issue — it’s an innovation roadblock, a national security concern, and a sovereignty crisis.
Europe needs European alternatives
Europe has spent years worrying(nuova finestra) about its failure to create globally competitive tech companies. But before you can fix a problem, you must fully understand it. Our findings prove that Europe’s tech sector is not held back by a lack of talent or innovation, but rather a structural dependency on US tech. Big Tech companies dominate, not because they’re better, but because they have the first mover’s advantage. This makes it harder for homegrown solutions to grow, compete, or even get started.
If Europe wants digital sovereignty — if it wants to control its future — it must start by controlling its data and digital services. This applies to individuals, companies, and countries alike.
At Proton, we’re committed to building secure, privacy-first tools that keep data in Europe and protect it with end-to-end encryption. We’re also proud supporters of the EuroStack, because one of the best ways to defend European values is to invest in European companies.
