The global backlash against the second Donald Trump administration keeps on growing. Canadians have boycotted US-made products, anti–Elon Musk posters have appeared across London amid widespread Tesla protests, and European officials have drastically increased military spending as US support for Ukraine falters. Dominant US tech services may be the next focus.
There are early signs that some European companies and governments are souring on their use of American cloud services provided by the three so-called hyperscalers. Between them, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) host vast swathes of the Internet and keep thousands of businesses running. However, some organizations appear to be reconsidering their use of these companies’ cloud services—including servers, storage, and databases—citing uncertainties around privacy and data access fears under the Trump administration.
“There’s a huge appetite in Europe to de-risk or decouple the over-dependence on US tech companies, because there is a concern that they could be weaponized against European interests,” says Marietje Schaake, a nonresident fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and a former decadelong member of the European Parliament.
As should have been done already 10 years ago. When it became clear American authorities can seize any information even when stored on servers outside USA, by any American service provider.
And Obama claimed it was a “fair balance”.
USA has in many ways acted almost like a totalitarian regime for decades, disregarding their own laws, international laws, and especially the laws of other countries, even allies.
This became very clear when Obama stressed that illegal surveillance/monitoring wasn’t used against American citizens.
Obviously meaning that citizens of other countries have no rights, and there are no laws preventing American intelligence in any way.
As it turned out, what Obama promised wasn’t even true, and Americans stationed in for instance Iraq, were very much monitored.
With regard to information of other countries, USA has CLEARLY demonstrated, that they have no regard for decency or even laws.
This was revealed when Obama was president, and the Republicans are even worse!!
USA and EU has made an agreement on this, claimed to make it legal in EU to use American cloud services.
But as we have seen, no American administration gives a fuck about such agreements or even laws, so that agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Obama taking no action to dismantle the surveillance state was my biggest problem with his administration. It was so obvious how that surveillance would be abused were it ever to get in the hands of a President with authoritarian tendencies.
And here we are.
Now they’ve fully eroded the 4th amendment and will use that knowledge to eradicate the 1st.
Yes IMO that part was very disappointing. As I used to say, Obama is an excellent president for USA, but he is still American.
Meaning there are things that we simply don’t see the same way.
But as a Dane I can’t really complain much about it. Because we were complicit, and helped USA spy against other European countries, for which I am much ashamed.
Um… This was never a secret. Like, at all. All the phones in the phone bank I hit up in the desert there were clearly labeled “Communications on this line can and will be monitored for operational security reasons”
Was it written on the phone of the people they called?
The claim was that with calls from foreign countries, if it was an American they spoke to, it would not be monitored.
Only foreigners were.
No, but if they weren’t informed, frankly, that’s on the SM for not doing so. And honestly, anyone taking a call from a deployed soldier should just understand that reality.
I’m not going to speak to generalities of whose calls were monitored and shouldn’t have been. Solely the item of “Americans stationed in Iraq were monitored”, which is, frankly, obviously happening. And every SM was informed as such. And they were instructed to inform their families of that fact.
Every military spouse knew that, if they went to the pre-deployment briefings they were invited to. Every SM knew it. Every contractor knew it, and their families should have also been informed by the contractor.
Hell, even in my state, only one party legally has to know it’s being monitored and/or recorded to be legal.
Wow. This guy hates Obama lol.
What facts did they get wrong?
Anyone who opposes mass surveillance should.
No I don’t, Obama was a good president and USA was a strong ally under him.
I hate Trump.
But it’s alarming IMO that a president that we consider moderate and a friend, still think these things are OK.
And Obama was just unfortunate that it was under him that these things were revealed.
You make fair points. I shouldn’t jest so carelessly. I don’t think it’s just Obama either though. Past administrations have all had hands toward what we have today.
That said; I do think you’re right really. Which also kinda makes me sad. I wish we had some real leadership, and actually hope 😅
We end up with a remixed reality of ‘King Ralph’ instead. Every day with Trump is eating away at whatever hope for some kind of check and balance to occur. It’s disheartening to feel so powerless in the face of such a FUBAR-POTUS clown show in the chainsaw wielding circus.
Anyway! Back to masking it 🎭
Absolutely, as I wrote Obama was just unlucky that it was under him that these things were revealed.
I am really sorry for all the good Americans that have to suffer the consequences of this administration.
It will probably get worse before it gets better.