Disclaimer: At Ynpact, we are AWS (Amazon Web Services) pure players and Partners. This article represents our honest assessment of AWS capabilities and our recommendations to European clients concerned about U.S. cloud providers. We have deep expertise in AWS solutions and believe they represent the best path forward for most European enterprises, despite valid concerns about U.S. jurisdiction.
As European companies increasingly consider migrating their workloads to the cloud, AWS stands out as a leading provider offering security, scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency. However, some European businesses, particularly those in highly regulated industries like finance, healthcare, or public services, hesitate to adopt AWS due to concerns about data security and integrity. We understand these concerns are legitimate, and we don’t dismiss them lightly. This blog post addresses these concerns, examines the implications of recent admissions by U.S. tech giants, and outlines how AWS ensures data security and integrity, offering practical solutions to reassure European companies that their data can be protected in the AWS cloud.
Understanding European Concerns
European businesses hesitate to adopt AWS due to:
Compliance with GDPR and Beyond: Strict European regulations, including GDPR and the Schrems II ruling, demand robust data protection, residency, and transparency, with non-compliance risking fines. Additionally, companies must consider sector-specific regulations such as PCI DSS for payment processing or HIPAA-equivalent healthcare regulations.
U.S. Government Access or Service Disruption: U.S. laws like the CLOUD Act and Patriot Act may allow authorities to access data or disrupt services, even for data stored in Europe, threatening privacy and availability. Beyond data access, there are legitimate concerns about business continuity risks if AWS is compelled to suspend services to comply with U.S. government directives, potentially disrupting critical business operations.
These worries have grown due to recent political changes that have increased concerns about U.S. cloud providers. For instance, in June 2025, Microsoft’s France legal director, Anton Carniaux, admitted under oath before the French Senate that Microsoft cannot guarantee protection of European data from U.S. government access, citing obligations under the U.S. CLOUD Act. This admission has raised alarms about the vulnerability of data hosted by U.S. providers, even when stored in European data centers. The statement underscores a broader issue: U.S. tech giants, including AWS, are subject to American laws that may compel data disclosure, potentially without notifying European clients.
These concerns are valid, given the stringent requirements of GDPR, national data protection laws, and the Schrems II ruling, which invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and emphasized the need for robust safeguards against foreign government access. The statement didn’t reveal anything that wasn’t already legally apparent though. What matters is building security architectures that account for these realities rather than pretending they don’t exist.
Our AWS Security Strategy for European Clients
AWS offers a comprehensive framework to mitigate these concerns, with solutions addressing compliance, U.S. government access risks, or both. Below are the key measures, along with their limitations.
1. Data Residency and Regional Isolation
To support GDPR compliance, AWS allows customers to store and process data in EU regions like Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin, or Stockholm, ensuring data remains within European borders. Companies can configure the allowed regions for deployment to enforce this residency and use AWS Backup to restrict backups to the EU, aligning with local regulations. This regional isolation not only meets GDPR’s data residency requirements but also reduces the risk of service disruptions from U.S. government actions. Since the data centers are physically located in Europe, it is harder for U.S. authorities to gain direct physical access to seize hardware or equipment, as they would need to cooperate with local authorities. This wouldn’t prevent AWS from shutting down your service if compelled, however. While we can’t eliminate this risk entirely, we can minimize business impact through:
- Automated failover mechanisms
- Regular backup testing and restoration procedures
- Business continuity planning for various scenarios
As Microsoft’s admission highlighted, U.S. providers remain subject to the CLOUD Act, meaning data residency alone is not enough. AWS mitigates this by challenging overbroad or unlawful government requests, with its Information Request Reports noting no disclosures of non-U.S. data since 2020. While this doesn’t eliminate U.S. legal jurisdiction over AWS as an entity, it creates significant practical barriers and ensures compliance with EU data residency requirements. It also gives EU authorities leverage in any disputes.
The upcoming AWS European Sovereign Cloud, expected by late 2025, will further ensure data and operations stay within the EU—physically, logically, and operationally separate, staffed by EU-resident personnel, and subject only to EU laws—offering a stronger solution against U.S. jurisdiction. European companies with high sovereignty requirements should consider this Sovereign Cloud to minimize jurisdictional risks while maintaining current residency controls.
2. Implement Strong Encryption for Data Protection
AWS provides robust encryption capabilities, but protecting against U.S. government access while meeting GDPR requires careful key management and realistic expectations about security limitations. Companies can deploy layered encryption strategies based on data sensitivity:
Client-Side Encryption: For the strongest protection, companies can implement client-side encryption using the AWS Encryption SDK to encrypt data before uploading to AWS, with keys stored in an on-premises hardware security module (HSM) located in Europe. This approach ensures AWS has no access to decryption keys, rendering data unreadable even if compelled by a U.S. government request under the CLOUD Act. This solution is not absolute and still carries risks, but it’s the best available protection against government access threats. However, this method limits integration with other AWS services that rely on AWS-managed keys for seamless functionality, so it’s best reserved for high-security data.
AWS CloudHSM: For a simpler yet robust alternative, consider using AWS CloudHSM in an EU region, such as Dublin or Frankfurt. AWS CloudHSM lets you manage and access your keys on FIPS-validated hardware, protected with customer-owned, single-tenant HSM instances that run in your own Virtual Private Cloud. With CloudHSM, you control the encryption keys in a managed HSM, avoiding the need for physical hardware maintenance. We acknowledge that AWS controls the underlying infrastructure, which creates theoretical attack vectors for sophisticated nation-state actors. However, this still provides excellent protection against routine access requests and integrates better with AWS services, although not as well as KMS does.
AWS KMS: For less sensitive data, server-side encryption with customer-managed keys (CMKs) in AWS Key Management Service (KMS), stored in EU regions, meets GDPR’s encryption standards. While AWS is a U.S. company, and KMS-managed keys could theoretically be accessed under U.S. law, KMS still provides strong security through robust encryption and access controls. Additionally, companies should audit key access with AWS CloudTrail to detect unauthorized attempts.
For data in transit, AWS enforces TLS/SSL, with services like CloudFront and API Gateway supporting end-to-end encryption via HTTPS-only endpoints. This ensures GDPR-compliant data protection during transfers but does not address U.S. government access to data at rest, as encryption in transit only secures communication, not stored data.
3. Get informed about AWS Compliance with GDPR and European Regulations
Beyond technical controls, regulatory compliance requires documented processes and certifications. Here’s how AWS supports your compliance journey.
AWS supports GDPR compliance through a Data Processing Addendum (DPA) with Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), which companies can sign via the AWS Artifact portal to govern data transfers outside the EU. AWS holds certifications like ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and ENISA’s Cybersecurity Certification, demonstrating adherence to European standards. Following the Schrems II ruling, AWS enhanced its SCCs and implemented supplementary measures like encryption and pseudonymization to protect data from foreign access. Companies can use AWS Config to enforce compliance rules, such as ensuring data stays in EU regions, and audit adherence with AWS Compliance Reports. These measures minimize legal risks but don’t directly mitigate U.S. government access.
4. Be Aware of the Shared Responsibility Model and Implement Access Controls
Under AWS’s Shared Responsibility Model, AWS secures the cloud infrastructure, while customers control data and configurations. Companies can use IAM (Identity and Access Management) policies to enforce least-privilege access, deploy AWS Shield and WAF to protect against DDoS attacks that could disrupt services, and enable AWS CloudTrail to log and audit API calls for transparency. These controls support GDPR’s data protection requirements and reduce unauthorized access risks, including by AWS, when paired with client-side encryption. AWS’s commitment to no government backdoors further strengthens this model, though vigilance is needed given U.S. legal obligations.
A Real Client Success Story:
Ynpact, a Monaco-based AWS Partner, specializes in helping European companies migrate to AWS while ensuring data security and compliance. Ynpact recently helped one of its client, a large French media company, migrate its streaming platform to AWS by:
- Storing video content in the Paris region using Amazon S3 with server-side encryption
- Choosing a European DRM provider to avoid reliance on U.S.-based providers and mitigate risks of U.S. government access
- Deploying an Elastic Load Balancer and CloudFront for secure content delivery, with HTTPS and AWS WAF to prevent disruptions, choosing carefully what to cache and where
Conclusion
The recent admission by Microsoft’s France legal director that U.S. providers cannot guarantee protection of European data from U.S. government access has increased concerns about using U.S. cloud providers like AWS. These concerns, driven by the U.S. CLOUD Act and Patriot Act, are understandable, particularly under the current administration’s unpredictable policies.
AWS provides robust tools and commitments to significantly reduce data security and integrity risks for European companies. By leveraging data residency, encryption strategies, GDPR compliance measures, and upcoming sovereignty initiatives like the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, AWS addresses many of these concerns. Although some residual risks remain inherent to using any U.S.-based cloud provider, the combination of technical controls, upcoming Sovereign Cloud, and AWS’s track record of challenging government requests creates an acceptable risk profile for most use cases.
Important Considerations:
- Engage qualified legal and security professionals to assess your specific regulatory requirements and risk tolerance
- Consider the full range of compliance requirements beyond GDPR, including sector-specific regulations
- Evaluate business continuity risks and develop contingency plans
- Assess whether alternative solutions (European cloud providers, hybrid approaches, on-premises) might better suit your risk profile
- Plan for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud if your requirements demand the strongest protection against U.S. jurisdiction
AWS offers powerful tools to significantly enhance your security, but informed decision-making requires understanding both the capabilities and the limitations. You can reach out to Ynpact directly for expert assistance with your cloud migration or to address your cloud security requirements, while ensuring you also consult with qualified legal professionals for comprehensive guidance.