Some of France’s most sensitive government and corporate data can be securely stored using the cloud computing technology developed by Google and Microsoft by Alphabet when licensed to French companies, the government said on Monday.
The comment, which is part of the strategic plan by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and two other ministers, recognizes the US’s technological superiority in this area and contrasts with previous calls by European politicians for entirely domestic alternatives.
Google and Microsoft, together with the market leader Amazon, dominate the data storage sector worldwide and are fueling concerns in Europe about the risk of surveillance by the USA following the passage of the US CLOUD Act of 2018.
According to Le Maire, however, a “trustworthy” cloud computing alternative can be developed within Europe by guaranteeing the location of servers on French soil and European ownership of the companies that store and process the data.
“We have therefore decided that the best companies – I am thinking of Microsoft and Google in particular – can license all or part of their technology to French companies,” said Le Maire at a press conference. He didn’t mention Amazon.
Google welcomed the French government’s “clarification”, adding that it supported “the need for the highest levels of security”.
Microsoft said this was good news for France’s digital transformation “in complete independence”.
Amazon’s cloud unit has partnered with several large French companies, including the state-controlled telecommunications company Orange, whose general manager in France Julien Groues told Reuters.
“It’s something we’ve been doing for many years,” he said.
Le Maire compared the licenses he mentioned with those of the 1960s in the field of civil nuclear energy between France and the United States.
Companies that offer cloud computing services that adhere to the principles set out by Le Maire and other conditions set by the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI receive a so-called “Trustworthy Cloud” label.
OVHcloud and Dassault Systemes’ Outscale are two French companies that already meet these criteria. OVHcloud announced late last year that it had partnered with Google to expand its cloud computing capabilities.
“We … hope that more Franco-American alliances will emerge in this area, which will allow us to have the best technology while ensuring the independence of French data,” said the Minister for Digital Affairs, Cedric O.
