US tech firms share Dutch regulator officials' names with Senate

petcat

> However, stopping working with Microsoft and other US tech companies is not an option in the short term, he told the magazine. > Van der Burg is currently grappling with the issue of Solvinity, a Dutch cloud service provider which is widely used by government departments including the Digid identity system, and which is on the verge of being sold to a US company. > The Dutch tax office is also currently switching to Microsoft systems, despite MPs’ concerns. They all talk about the importance of European digital sovereignty and then continue to do the exact opposite behind the scenes.

Eridrus

I don't know what the US thinks it will gain by targeting civil servants. They are not the ones with the power to decide what happens, and retaliation would mean more anti-US people selecting themselves into these projects.

emilfihlman

Civil servant's info is public information (at least in Finland it is). It's good that bureaucrats can't hide behind bureaucracy.

portly

Sorry, but "dutchnews.nl" is not a source I take seriously. Please link a publication on an established media outlet because this smells like misinfo.

neves

USA has always seemed it's companies. Will they do the same they did with International Criminal Court? They were investigating Israel genocide and now they judges can't use a credit card or travel. Reference: https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/icc-strongly-rejects-new-us-san...

zugi

The article is thin on details about the sharing of names. If US companies responded to US government inquiries about speech regulation by forwarding the emails they received from Dutch regulators, those would unsurprisingly include regulators' names. The article title seems like click bait, even though the article content goes on to have interesting details about EU attempts to reduce dependence on US technology companies.

ronsor

> Companies such as Microsoft and Meta have shared the names of civil servants and academics working on European tech regulation with a senate committee investigating “tech censorship” or “jawboning”, news magazine Vrij Nederland reported on Friday. IIRC this was part of subpoena from Congress? > The cabinet has described the news as “extremely worrying”, given that the named officials could now face travel bans or even sanctions, Vrij Nederland said. This is possible. > “If you want to discuss policy, then you do it with us, not over the backs of civil servants,” digital economy minister Willemijn Aerdts told the magazine. “That has happened and we will now talk to our contacts, including those in the US.” I don't know why they expect to be able to discuss policy constraints without the government of the company's place of business knowing.

djoldman

> Under the US Cloud Act, American companies are required to hand over all information they store to the government if requested to do so, even if it is stored abroad. Hrm. It's my understanding that a US company is required to give almost no data to any government without a warrant.

PeterStuer

Follow the money. So far, there has been lots of posturing, but little budget behind those 'sovereignty' initiatives in the EU. Unless this changes, I am going to assume the puppets are just riding out time until their US masters are back in control.

greatgib

As always is some countries and especially in European ones. When citizens have to face the consequence of harmful data mining and sharing behaviors, it is ok because the officials are profiting of it. When it is the officials that have to bear the consequences, then it is scandalous and something needs to be done about it. But just for them to be protected. They don't care for the general population.

rambambram

Schleswig-Holstein works with sovereign tech for their office and email applications.

silexia

Censoring free speech is the end of democracy. We must fight back against government encroachment on our rights.