Technological sovereignty: Missing the point?

Abstract

Following reports of foreign government surveillance starting in June 2013, senior officials and public figures in Europe have promoted proposals to achieve “technological sovereignty”. This paper provides a comprehensive mapping and impact assessment of these proposals, ranging from technical ones, such as new undersea cables, encryption, and localized data storage, to non-technical ones, such as domestic industry support, international codes of conduct, and data protection laws. The analysis focused on the technical proposals reveals that most will not effectively protect against foreign surveillance. Ultimately, the security of data depends primarily not on where it is stored and sent but how it is stored and transmitted. In addition, some proposals could negatively affect the open and free Internet or lead to inefficient allocation of resources. Finally, proposals tend to focus on the transatlantic dimension, neglecting the broader challenge of foreign surveillance.

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