alt Hacker News>I don't think I've seen such a clear shift in public opinion so fast before
Its not about public opinion, but rather data sovereignty requirements. Certain types of data must be processed within servers located in the EU, regardless of where the company's HQ is. That's why you see most SaaS platforms nowadays offer a EU-only version.
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Which is just wildly backwards. It is the same mindset of the cyberpunk "privacy advocates" of the early 2000s, move your stuff to Sealand or Switzerland.
The fundamental flaw with this plan is if your fear is genuinely of the United States, your data is far more protected inside the US. The intelligence community has no restrictions operating on foreign networks and servers.
Rather than go to a FISA court for approval, we just hack your box and take your data. Or ask a European intelligence service to use the much more lax laws to compel its disclosure.
Yes, data collection happens on US soil. But ask anyone who has worked on the inside how much of a pain it is to view or process USPER data.
Well, there are also noises about the SaaS company preferably not being American. Apparently there's a US law that compels US companies to divulge data on their users even if the data is hosted outside of the US. (I'm not sure this wouldn't happen anyway, without such a law.)
I remember when iCloud arrangements required by China was seen as draconian. Now it seems we're not far from people cheering for such laws elsewhere...
It is definitely also about public opinion and it is going to be translated into laws soon enough (i.e. governments mandate data sovereignty).
Recent erratic policies are having a profound effect on perception of US companies.
It has been brewing for a while.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/02/27/is-overreliance-on-...