France has decided Google and Microsoft’s cloud technology can be used for sensitive data — with caveats.
As cloud computing becomes more important to organizations around the globe, there is a growing concern about the risk of US surveillance of cloud data. The EU, in particular, has increasingly looked with suspicion and distrust at US providers.
France appears to have come up with a solution, clearing Microsoft and Google’s technology for use in sensitive applications, according to Reuters. France will allow the companies’ technology to be used as part of a homegrown solution, as long as the servers are operated on EU soil and the companies storing and processing the data are European-owned.
“We therefore decided that the best companies – I’m thinking in particular of Microsoft or Google – could license all or part of their technology to French companies,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
Companies that help create solutions meeting France’s requirements will receive a “trustworthy cloud” label.
“We… hope that other Franco-American alliances will emerge in this area, which will allow us to have the best technology while guaranteeing the independence of French data,” said Minister for Digital Affairs Cedric O.