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News & Current Events May 11, 2026 at 7:48 PM

Europe is moving to block Microsoft, Amazon, and Google from handling government health, financial, and legal data

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bobothebadger May 11, 2026 +1510
now they just need to add Palantir to the list.
1510
AlkaiserSoze May 11, 2026 +447
I was just going to say, didn't Palantir get major access to NHS data? EDIT: I never said UK was part of the EU, people. But if a guy is doing shady shit to your neighbors house, it's probably a good idea to not let him in.
447
pchs26 May 12, 2026 +130
Yes and it is possible Palantir might be the most blatantly dangerous - and that isn't underestimating the others
130
unematti May 12, 2026 +41
It's the most dangerous because they are actively working with a rogue state. The others are just working for themselves and not by default accessed by the same rogue state(but they can easily be)
41
Hirork May 11, 2026 +80
Yes, but that's not a new thing they've been twisting their tendrils around government datasets since before the begining of this decade. The reason government was so eager to jump on is because they offered to do it for free.99. The play being that they get the government dependent on their product to function. Rory Stewart recently opened up about when they approached his department at the time he was still in government. Believe that was the prisons service.
80
AlkaiserSoze May 11, 2026 +50
They offered to do it for FREE? You're kidding me. That's the shadiest of all deals.
50
tegat May 12, 2026 +23
I don't think it would matter in NHS case. NHS is part of UK, not part of EU.
23
Four_beastlings May 12, 2026 +11
The headline says Europe. I wish press in general were more careful distinguishing between Europe and the EU.
11
goodmobileyes May 12, 2026 +2
I think it's fairly understood in layman terms these days that "Europe" refers to the EU, since they are the only European group that could be collectively regulated. Especially in articles referring to "European" legislation
2
Eatpineapplerightnow May 12, 2026 +1
if you read the article "europe" refers to European Commision EDIT: just realized you wanted that in the headline. cheers
1
JP76 May 12, 2026 +18
Even though headline says Europe, the article is about new regulations that European Commission (EU) is planning. It doesn't include UK.
18
Wise_Owl5404 May 12, 2026 +3
Well the article is actually referring to steps taken by the EU, an organization the UK is no longer a member of. I agree that the EU should also be barring Palantir, but doing so would currently have no great effect on what happens in the UK.
3
ArneHD May 12, 2026 +6
This is about the EU, so maybe the NHS will have to sever ties in a couple of years when or if the UK rejoins.
6
goodmobileyes May 12, 2026 +3
That's the UK, the article in question is about the EU
3
deedee2148 May 12, 2026 +1
UK left the EU. That's their problem. 
1
Previous-Height4237 May 12, 2026 +1
The UK is not part of the EU.
1
ChicoZombye May 12, 2026 +1
UK is not a neigbor, it's an ex-roomate who left. They have their own agendas. Russia, Africa are closer to mainland Europe than the UK is in terms of actual distance but that doesn't mean EU will do what they are doing. If EU does it it's his own fuckup with full blame.
1
AlkaiserSoze May 12, 2026 +1
So.. because Palantir is probably going to do some nefarious stuff to UK then the EU shouldn't add Palantir to the ban list because f*** UK? Did I get that right? That's the logic you're going with? The logic that Palantir is okay because they're exploiting a country who isn't part of the EU? Because that was the point of this particular thread. Palantir should be added to the EU ban list. And yeah, I get the emotional issue in discussing anything UKxEU but like it or not, Palantir is trying to operate in the region of Western Europe. No sense in cutting off your nose to spite your face. America does that. Trust me, it doesn't really work. EU needs to ban Palantir.
1
JP76 May 12, 2026 +2
Pretty sure all foreign companies will be affected. They just mention the well-known ones.
2
Street_Anxiety2907 May 12, 2026 +2
Yep, France Spain Portugal Belgium and Germany are all in contract with Palantir so that's not going to be easy right now.
2
imaginary_num6er May 11, 2026 +8
Yeah but the UK is already part of the European continent
8
segv May 11, 2026 +65
not the EU, tho
65
PositiveUse May 12, 2026 +1
Problem is that Palantir has very strong bonds to the conservatives in EU… maybe the best network out of the big tech
1
ken_the_boxer May 11, 2026 +344
And the site this article is on wants to set cookies from 221 different companies.
344
ryanknapper May 12, 2026 +69
Don't worry, they have legitimate interest.
69
whuuutKoala May 12, 2026 +27
…to f*** your wallet for needless things!
27
Patient-Ordinary-359 May 11, 2026 +19
wtf has that got to do with the price of fish?
19
Aware-Instance-210 May 11, 2026 +31
Same as continental drift, you ain't even seeing it happening
31
RetypedForClarity May 11, 2026 +8
Both are rising
8
NimrodvanHall May 11, 2026 +65
In the mean time the Dutch government allowed [the sale of DigID](https://www.rtl.nl/nieuws/politiek/artikel/5598452/contractverlenging-digid-bedrijf-gaat-door-ondanks-kort-geding-en) the governmental service that allows for electronic identification to a US tech company.
65
MetalBawx May 11, 2026 +190
In comparison the UK government just gave Palantir another contract handling NHS data... One day after getting their arses spanked in local elections and Starmer promising things would change.
190
azthal May 11, 2026 +33
It's not a new contract. It's the same contract from a few years ago. What changed is that palantir employees will be granted admin rights to the core system instead of having to request it each time. The arguments are that it is to inefficient. They already had access, now they removed some of the checks and balances.
33
nicuramar May 12, 2026 -5
> What changed is that palantir employees will be granted admin rights to the core system instead of having to request it each time No, what changed is that they will now, when needed, get broader access (ie admin) instead of case-by-case access. 
-5
azthal May 12, 2026 +7
How is that different from what I said?
7
deathentry May 11, 2026 +34
With all these new EU rules, especially for things like VPN bans it feels like the UK is setting up to be a gatekeeper to bridge US and EU 🤣
34
Blbe-Check-42069 May 11, 2026 +31
Yeah... Good they left the EU lol. Imagine having that bridge inside. Would be akin to a trojan horse...
31
Conscious_Self9844 May 11, 2026 +7
Airstrip One
7
TummySpuds May 12, 2026 +1
For clarity, the contract was agreed under the previous government. Labour and Starmer had nothing to do with it.
1
MetalBawx May 12, 2026 +1
Your not clarifying but rather trying to shift the blame. The current government has chosen to expand these contracts with 0 alternative bids. Thus they have become culpable for the harm and risk involved just as much as the Tories. They are also expending the surveillance powers of the Online Safety Act and thus get the blame for that decision too.
1
VividB82 May 12, 2026
The UK isn’t Europe 
0
swrrrrg May 11, 2026 +40
But the UK is trusting Palantir? Jfc. Make this make sense. I’m not suggesting anyone trust *any* of them, but my god. We’re all doomed.
40
p_2923 May 11, 2026 +7
When the day comes, there are way more of us than them.
7
Objective-Ad-585 May 12, 2026 +16
Are you kidding ? Half of the Morons will be duped into believing it’s a good thing.
16
floppysausage16 May 12, 2026 +13
Exactly. Its not the poor vs rich. Its the poor vs the poor the rich control.
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VividB82 May 12, 2026
See this comment a lot. The UK isn’t Europe 
0
swrrrrg May 12, 2026 +1
I’m well aware of that.
1
Previous-Height4237 May 12, 2026
The UK is not part of the EU.
0
Batmorous May 12, 2026 -2
No stop being doom and gloom. Have hope and do with others locally and internationally. The UK needs help to get organized and get things done day in and day out
-2
Klepdar May 11, 2026 +33
Psst you should include palantir because they're worse than all of them combined
33
pchs26 May 12, 2026 +5
Exactly I find it very notable they aren't. It isn't a secret who they are which makes me sometimes question the state of some things...
5
thestereo300 May 12, 2026 +2
To everyone naming Palantir.... This regulation is regarding cloud storage and computing. This is why they are naming these 3 specific companies because they ARE the market for this.
2
FixedFun1 May 11, 2026 +8
I wish Proton had more support on stuff like this. They're not perfect but it would be nice to see a more "healthy" company get it.
8
Mexer May 12, 2026 +1
Proton is great. Never had an issue with them in years of daily use
1
Sedert1882 May 11, 2026 +12
Meanwhile the UK just gave Palantir unfettered access to its NHS. Well done!
12
snorlz May 12, 2026 +10
half these comments are about Palantir, showing no one understands what this article is saying. Theyre talking about these companies as cloud providers, not in the normal sense. Palantir is not a cloud provider- they use Amazon Those three run pretty much all cloud computing, which power virtually every site and internet service you use. Im actually not sure how Europe will handle this going forward cause if I'm reading it right, this hamstrings Europe's ability to build internet applications. Depending on how strict the regulations are ofc. Forces them or a european company to build out their own data centers at a scale that can handle all that information, which obviously would take years, and the highly engineered tools to efficiently use those cloud services that Microsoft, Amazon, Google have spent years working on.
10
space_prostitute May 12, 2026 +4
SAP, Thalassa, Hetzner, STACKIT, Leafcloud, Civo, EKS, Ringover, Scaleway, OVHcloud, Alibaba... The U.S. is not the center of the world.
4
yourfriendlyreminder May 12, 2026 +4
All of those combined have less Market share in Europe than AWS.
4
space_prostitute May 12, 2026
I fail to see how that would "hamstring Europe's ability to build internet applications"
0
yourfriendlyreminder May 12, 2026 +5
Well, for one, the European cloud providers don't provide the same level of quality or breadth of services. And their market share proves it.
5
ViktenPoDalskidan May 12, 2026 +1
Cloud providers, sure, but AWS/GCP/Azure has way more services and/or products attached for development, security and more
1
Medium-Pitch-5768 May 12, 2026 +1
I guess it depends exactly what qualifies as government health, financial, and legal data. That would determine how broad the impact is. GDPR is probably still more impactful to most European companies and foreign companies used in Europe.  I assume public companies would not have access that information, but also not constrained by the limitations.
1
nicuramar May 12, 2026 +1
> showing no one understands what this article is saying What a massive surprise :p
1
Matild4 May 11, 2026 +13
Here in Finland our current government has their tongues so far up Trump's butt that they want to give our voting systems to Amazon and our tax data to Microsoft. Ashamed to live here.
13
5772156649 May 12, 2026 +5
Have you thought about repatriating Torvalds?
5
Substantial_Milk8170 May 11, 2026 +23
The most shocking part of this headline is finding out they were actually allowed to handle that kind of data in the first place.
23
cipheron May 11, 2026 +31
This isn't about the companies handling data directly, it's about cloud services such as AWS, or about organizations using products such as SharePoint.
31
RevolutionaryWorry87 May 11, 2026 +18
To clarify on this good point: The required move is a massive technical leap. The vast majorirt iof government/corporations largely rely heavily on Microsoft, Google or Amazon. 99.9%.
18
scruffles360 May 11, 2026 +12
What an ignorant take. Those three companies make up such a large portion of the public cloud that the rest is essentially a rounding error. None of them access the actual data. They're cloud providers. Which of course is the point of this action.. not to protect your data, but to establish a European cloud provider by putting a thumb on the scale.
12
Nipun137 May 12, 2026 -10
Yeah, but imagine the outcry if those were Chinese cloud providers instead. EU worries about being dependent on China when they are 100 times more depedent on US. Pure stupidity.
-10
unencrypted-enigma May 11, 2026 +46
Meanwhile they are eager to feed their most sensitive data into Palantir software. Its mental.
46
Patient-Ordinary-359 May 11, 2026 +24
Doesn't sound very eager to me: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/german-army-excludes-us-tech-firm-palantir-from-cloud-project-over-data-security-concerns/3921703. The Palantir backlash is here and will just accelerate. Existing contracts will stagnate or get cancelled and new contracts will be harder and harder to come by.
24
unencrypted-enigma May 11, 2026 +13
The police is really eager to implement it though. Some States in Germany have already implemented it, others want it really bad.
13
Patient-Ordinary-359 May 11, 2026 +4
Yep but 2025 is already a long time ago. That manifesto was just some weird shit, and the tide will turn. On top of that, the public in Germany isn't that keen on a new police state. Outrage will grow and take its toll.
4
unencrypted-enigma May 11, 2026 +5
We‘ll see. Police is still wants it and they have a powerful lobby. A lot of politicians also really want mass surveillance
5
Bonamikengue May 12, 2026 -1
There is no "the police" in Germany. Every state has its own police. And most states said already NO to Palantir. It is Germany's Texas - Bavaria - eager to use it.
-1
unencrypted-enigma May 12, 2026 +2
Oh look how smart you think you are. The comparison of Bavaria being the german Texas is pretty dumb to begin with. That being said: Hesse is using it since 2017, North Rhine-Westphalia is using it since 2020. Baden-Wurttemberg will start using it in Q2 2026 So its not only Bavaria. You’re just wrong.
2
pchs26 May 12, 2026 +3
It's of high urgency right now.. The European markets/public are more receptive to government involvement and regulations then places like the US.
3
GreatStateOfSadness May 11, 2026
The TSP would impact all foreign tech firms, including Palantir.  Read. The. Article. Before. You. Comment. 
0
unencrypted-enigma May 11, 2026 +3
It wouldn’t impact Palantir from what I understand. The policy is directed at cloud providers. As far as I am aware Palantir software can be installed on self hosted servers.
3
-Hickle- May 12, 2026
UK ≠ EU
0
Previous-Height4237 May 12, 2026 -1
The UK is not part of the EU
-1
unencrypted-enigma May 12, 2026 +2
Whats your point? For example german police is starting to use it and feeds it sensitive information. Is Germany not part of the EU?
2
space_prostitute May 12, 2026
Do people seriously not remember Brexit?
0
Fuzzy-Shape-1601 May 11, 2026 +20
get the f****** americans out of europe
20
EquivalentArea1782 May 11, 2026 -12
Don’t worry, this attitude will be reflected in the US also.
-12
asdhjasdhlkjashdhgf May 12, 2026 +5
To unlock whats up here one detail, digital services are a large chunk of US external trade surplus specially to its single most important foreign market, which is Europe (30% of all US digital service business). So the move is not just some challenge about data safety or privacy laws, it has potential to redirect €180bn / year (data [https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2026/number/1/article/services-at-the-core-the-missing-piece-of-transatlantic-trade-talks.html](https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2026/number/1/article/services-at-the-core-the-missing-piece-of-transatlantic-trade-talks.html) ). just to compare, yearly US-EU service trade is worth $501 billion. And \~ 78% of that is digital services, that should give a hint how severe the situation can become, reciprocal intentions would only manifest a possible impact. If that is good or bad, you can judge yourself. looking ahead, that means other countries might turn to other services as well and voilà competition makes more fun again. (nothing to see here, business as usual)
5
EquivalentArea1782 May 12, 2026 -5
Nah, the EU wants to split from the US. Let’s roll these dice. Europeans can start by deleting Listnook. Put your money where your talk is.
-5
surg3on May 12, 2026 +6
The saying is 'Put your money where your mouth is'. If a troll bot you are forgiven.
6
[deleted] May 12, 2026 +1
[deleted]
1
EquivalentArea1782 May 12, 2026
You used a bunch of words, but you didn’t say very much. ✌️
0
Winter-Rip712 May 12, 2026 -13
It's the punishment for bailing you idiots out of two world wars.
-13
EquivalentArea1782 May 12, 2026 -2
The Eurobots will downvote you. I hate Trump with ever fiber of my being, but I think he’s right about leaving the EU to itself. Let them spend their money on defense.
-2
Thrillog May 12, 2026 +1
Yes please, let us. We'll let you drown in your own, little ways...
1
Suspicious-Gur-8453 May 11, 2026 +6
Can't blame them.
6
Bitplayer13 May 11, 2026 +6
But UK is giving Palantir free rein. Might reconsider that
6
pamalamTX May 11, 2026 +3
That's a smart plan.
3
legendary034 May 11, 2026 +3
Don't forget Oracle health
3
mqrdesign May 12, 2026 +3
Good decision
3
nicuramar May 12, 2026 +3
“Europe”? You mean the EU. 
3
Desperate-Hearing-55 May 12, 2026 +6
While they are allowing Palantir....!??
6
Eatpineapplerightnow May 12, 2026 +3
the UK is allowing palantir
3
mikeinanaheim2 May 11, 2026 +8
All except for England. They are opening their health database to Palantir, of all possible choices. And this is not sarcasm either.
8
-Hickle- May 12, 2026 +4
Sadly England is not part of the EU anymore
4
GreenSouth3 May 11, 2026 +2
yikes!
2
The-Oxrib-and-Oyster May 12, 2026 +2
this is about the EU
2
Dutch1206 May 12, 2026 +5
Funny, this fell right below the Palantir gaining access to the NHS on my feed.
5
PhantasmologicalAnus May 11, 2026 +2
Moving or just dreaming, again?
2
Rootspam May 12, 2026 +2
Yes! No one will spy on our citizens... except for us once we pass chat control 2.0!!!
2
BorntoBomb May 12, 2026 +2
Do it now
2
rapidanalysis May 12, 2026 +2
This is great news for small startups that sell hardware for homes and small businesses to *move off the cloud...*
2
One-Treat4655 May 12, 2026 +2
About time.
2
CaribouJovial May 12, 2026 +2
This should never have happened in the first place.
2
CodeXploit1978 May 12, 2026 +2
About f****** time.
2
Hawthorn333 May 12, 2026 +2
Awesome, this is a great start.
2
PapaGilbatron May 11, 2026 +4
Not fast enough as the UK has just allowed Palantir full access to NHS public medical records.
4
nicuramar May 12, 2026 +2
That’s a bit misleading, actually. But anyway, the headline is wrong. 
2
-Hickle- May 12, 2026 +3
UK ≠ EU
3
nicuramar May 12, 2026
Tell that to the headline writer.
0
ChunkyHD May 12, 2026 -1
UK == Europe; Read the headline Hickle
-1
The-Oxrib-and-Oyster May 12, 2026 +1
but not the EU bud
1
ChunkyHD May 12, 2026
Again '*bud*'; read the article headline. '**Europe** is moving to block Microsoft, Amazon, and Google from handling government health, financial, and legal data.' Reading comprehension is hard I guess.
0
f3n2x May 12, 2026
The European Commission has nothing to do with the UK. Maybe read past the headline too?
0
ChunkyHD May 12, 2026
Maybe understand the response was in reference to the misleading headline?
0
scytob May 11, 2026 +4
meh, amazon and microsoft already have EU sovereign clouds, so this is no big issue, and if this law tries to block that i think they will find it will fail in EU courts as the EU legal entities are the ones that run the sovereign clouds what they have proven is most customers don't want to use soverign clouds because of the downsides of not being able to use cross border services
4
Puiucs May 11, 2026 +2
finally. should have happened much earlier.
2
DFWjohnny May 11, 2026 +1
Honestly don't know what systems are used outside the US in large healthcare systems - Epic seems to be the 'standard' in hospitals in America, what is used in European hospitals? I'm wondering if that means Apps like Apple Health are getting the boot in the EU and other health apps originating in the App Store or Google Play? Things are a mess right now and it is embarrassing AF but perhaps is calling out too much centralization of data on the big 3 cloud service providers who seem to have an affinity to cozying up tp governments to share data.
1
mosen66 May 11, 2026 +1
Smart
1
moderatenerd May 12, 2026 +1
so does this mean steve jobs frozen head is in Switzerland?
1
grathontolarsdatarod May 12, 2026 +1
GOOD. I hope that also comes with a re-think on how 5-eyes works (or how every many eyes their are now).
1
SereneOrbit May 12, 2026 +1
Good, divest entirely from all US services and build your own.
1
Naamch3 May 12, 2026 +1
lol, and who do they propose handle something of that scale and confidentiality? A European company, lol?
1
Confident_Client_414 May 12, 2026 +1
Next, cut off Roman Numeral Ten, formerly Twitter.
1
okachobii May 12, 2026 +1
I cloud have sworn the NHS had a partnership with both Microsoft and Amazon for their own services.
1
VanilaaGorila May 12, 2026 +1
Europe is about to face a major energy crisis… I think they have other things to worry about. Mainly convincing Germans they have been subjects of anti nuclear Russian propaganda… but yeah worry about mega data. 
1
Woebetide138 May 12, 2026 +1
YES!!!
1
BehindThyCamel May 12, 2026 +1
Maybe make it a requirement that all company's data centers are physically within the EU. Sure, it might hinder some European companies, too, but privacy and security don't come for free, or even c****.
1
unlimitedbuttholes May 12, 2026 +1
This is great news! My Green Ledger Book Company stock is about to go to the mooooooonnnn!!!
1
BoneZone05 May 12, 2026 +1
They’re on the right track. Imagine Europe becoming the new *land of the free* wow
1
30yearCurse May 12, 2026 +1
Fine, some local EU company will do it, then get bought up in 10 years. Happens here all the time
1
Sure-Whereas3562 May 12, 2026 +1
Makes sense
1
gottabe_kd May 13, 2026 +1
Ok. But salesforce got all of our immunization data here in BC, maybe we could ban them, too?
1
Doctor_Saved May 13, 2026 +1
Good luck with that.
1
Terrible-Group-9602 May 11, 2026 +1
Ooh 'moving'.
1
Agitated-Ad-504 May 11, 2026 +1
But not Planatir? 😂 oh okay
1
-Hickle- May 12, 2026
UK ≠ EU
0
merlinuwe May 11, 2026 +1
Never. (ROFL)
1
BlackbirdSage May 11, 2026 +1
Meanwhile the UK, just gave Palantir unrestricted access to NHS patient data.
1
RebelliousInNature May 12, 2026 +1
Yeah and the uk is handing palantir patient data.
1
-Hickle- May 12, 2026 +1
UK ≠ EU
1
RebelliousInNature May 12, 2026 +1
Yes. That’s why my comment says ‘and the Uk is’
1
wichramdoiuseplshelp May 11, 2026
Awesome
0
Noxodium May 11, 2026 -1
Didn't they just suck Palantir's d***
-1
PM_Your_Best_Ideas May 11, 2026 +2
The UK is only a small part of Europe...
2
novavalue May 11, 2026
...and then hand it all to Palantir instead.
0
PM_Your_Best_Ideas May 11, 2026 +2
The UK is only like 10-15% of Europe...
2
A_Large_Fries May 11, 2026
What is the real available fix so for Corp? Open Office and Whatsapp?
0
myelodysplasto May 11, 2026 +2
Signal instead of WhatsApp
2
EvilToastedWeasel0 May 12, 2026
But palantir gets all the goodies.... Block that evil Corporat company before it's way too late.
0
Fair-Hair2080 May 12, 2026
WTH would ANY of these companies NEED access to citizens healthcare information?
0
Initial_Hedgehog_631 May 11, 2026 -2
So the US needs to ban US agencies and grant recipients from using SAP?
-2
lew_rong May 11, 2026 +5
A quick donation to the Epstein Ballroom will quash that lol
5
GeorgeWashingfun May 12, 2026 -2
Absolutely nothing article. The EU doesn't have a suitable replacement for all of the services these companies provide. They'll be paying more money for worse service and less security, and since this change won't apply to private businesses American tech will still be handling plenty of sensitive data.
-2
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