FRANKFURT, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Amazon’s AWS launched a new cloud service located entirely in Europe on Thursday, addressing user concerns about the data security delivered by mainly U.S.-based providers by offering the continent’s own independent alternative.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud’s data centres are physically and legally separate from the U.S.-based company’s other servers, the world’s largest cloud provider said.
This will allow the cloud to operate even if the European Union were disconnected from the internet or the United States were to prohibit software exports, AWS Germany Chief Technology Officer Michael Hanisch told Reuters.
EUROPEAN USERS SEEK ALTERNATIVES
Europeans are increasingly seeking alternatives to largely U.S.-dominated tech amid concerns about the legal data access allowed to authorities.
The Cloud Act requires U.S.-based providers to grant authorities access to data even if it is stored abroad.
The other two major U.S. cloud providers, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google, are also vying for customers with heightened data security requirements.
Microsoft, upon request, stores the data of European customers exclusively in data centres located within Europe, while Google announced investments of 5.5 billion euros ($6.41 billion) in German data centres last year.
INVESTMENT OF MORE THAN 7.8 BILLION EUROS
AWS Europe’s first data centre is being built in the German state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, said Hanisch.
More are planned for Germany and other European countries, backed by investment of more than 7.8 billion euros, he added.
The cloud will be secured with controls, sovereignty assurances and legal safeguards that meet European government and business requirements for processing sensitive data, AWS says.
The European AWS cloud will be operated and monitored by a German company whose management and advisory board are staffed by EU citizens, and all employees will eventually be required to hold EU citizenship , Hanisch added.
AWS does not have a customer target for the cloud, he said.
($1 = 0.8579 euros)
(Reporting by Hakan Ersen, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Alexander Smith)
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