OVHcloud warns about risks of relying on foreign tech giants for critical infrastructure, especially regarding data sovereignty. Microsoft admitted in June that it could not guarantee customer data protection from US government access requests, and a Microsoft France director said he could not guarantee French citizen data would not be transmitted without French authorities' agreement. OVHcloud's chief legal officer said the admission shocked customers and undermined prior assurances. Customers are asking OVHcloud how other providers handle data access and sovereignty. The lack of a legal definition of sovereignty leads to varied interpretations and allows the concept to be used as marketing. The sovereignty problem remains difficult to solve.
"They finally told the truth!" says OVHcloud Chief Legal Officer Solange Viegas Dos Reis. "It's not a surprise," she shrugs, "we already knew that." However, "this reply from Microsoft brought kind of a shock for customers, because they suddenly discover that what they have been taught for a while. 'Oh guys, don't worry, it will not apply to you. Don't worry.' It's false! Because, indeed, the data can be communicated."
The sovereignty problem, however, is difficult to solve. Almost every vendor and commentator appears to have a different idea of what it means. "One of the issues we have is that, as there is no legal definition of sovereignty, everyone has their own idea of what sovereignty is," Viegas Dos Reis says. "It's becoming quite a marketing concept for some."
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