Fed up with Big Tech's surrender to Trump? These are the European alternatives.

BarcelonaIn a context of growing global geopolitical tension and with Donald Trump's return to the White House, more and more European citizens and companies are seriously considering reducing their dependence on US tech giants. This movement is not new, but it has seen significant momentum in recent months, as evidenced by the exponential increase in visits to the European Alternatives directory, which increased eightfold since Trump's inauguration in January 2025.

The concern is not unfounded. The Trump administration has already begun dismantling the EU-US Data Protection Framework (DPF), a legal mechanism established in 2023 to allow transatlantic data transfers while ensuring adequate protection for European citizens. Trump has signed an executive order reviewing and potentially revoking Executive Order 14086 signed by President Biden, which formed the legal basis for the DPF and imposed safeguards limiting US intelligence agencies' access to European data.

This situation leaves European organizations that transfer data to US cloud providers in a legal vacuum, because the fundamental basis for considering the US a suitable destination for EU personal data no longer exists. Previously, the EU Court of Justice had already invalidated two data transfer agreements for lacking protections against US surveillance.

Although the EU has set limits on Big Tech through regulations such as the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, which define obligations for "gatekeeper" platforms such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, the reality is that European citizens continue to use these services massively. In just five minutes of regular browsing, a typical European user can use up to eight of these eleven dominant apps.

European Protection versus American Turbocapitalism

Using European-based digital services does not prevent authorities from intervening when legally required. A notable example was the case of ProtonMail, which provided Spanish police with the recovery email address associated with the account of an individual linked to the Democratic Tsunami movement. ProtonMail complied with this request under Swiss law, which requires cooperation with properly formalized international legal requests.

However, the fundamental difference is that these interventions are governed by European values ​​and legal frameworks, which put user protection at the center, in contrast to the business model of US Big Tech, based on capturing attention and monetizing data. Let's not forget that 80% of Google's revenue comes from advertising, for Twitter (now X) this figure is 90%, and for Meta it exceeds 98%. Instead of Big Tech, we could call them Big Ads.

This difference in approach is reflected in the 2022 European Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles, which sets out six key principles: technology should empower the user; everyone should have access; free choice; freedom of expression; the online environment should be safe; and the technology should be sustainable.

Reclaiming Device Sovereignty: European Smartphones

Dependence on Big Tech begins with the mobile device itself. Europe offers alternatives:

• Murena (France): Phones with pre-installed /e/OS, a "de-Googled" version of Android that removes components that send data to Google.
• Fairphone (Netherlands): Modular and ethically designed phones that are easy to repair, with detailed instructions for installing /e/OS.

European alternatives to the most popular services

AI Assistants

• The Chat (France): Developed by Mistral AI, it offers features such as project tracking and document summarization. It supports dialogue in several European languages, including Catalan.

Email

• ProtonMail (Switzerland): Developed by CERN scientists, it offers end-to-end encryption and free and paid options.
• Tutanota (Germany): Open source encrypted email provider that encrypts email, calendar and contacts by default.
• Mailbox.org (Germany): Offers email, calendar, and video calling from data centers powered by green energy.

Social networks

• Mastodon (Germany): Decentralized microblogging platform without manipulative algorithms or user tracking.
• PixelFed (Canada): Decentralized photo-posting network similar to Instagram.
• BeReal (France): Network focused on sharing spontaneous images, notifying users at random times.

Web browsers

• Vivaldi (Norway/Iceland): Privacy-focused and extremely customizable browser.
• LibreWolf (European Community project): Privacy-oriented variant of Firefox, without telemetry.
• Mullvad Browser (Sweden): Developed in cooperation with Project Tor.

Office automation

• LibreOffice (Germany): Complete open source office suite that runs locally, offering a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, and Open Document Format database.

Web search engines

• Qwant (France): Privacy-focused search engine, no tracking of user activity.
• Ecosia (Germany): "Green" search engine that allocates revenue to planting trees. For every 50 searches, they plant a tree.
• Mojeek (United Kingdom): Independent search engine that does not track user activities.

Password managers

• 1Password (Canada): Zero-knowledge encryption manager with "Travel Mode" for border security.
• ProtonPass (Switzerland): Manager with end-to-end encryption and integration with ProtonMail.
• KeePassXC (Germany): Completely offline, open source and no subscription costs.

Translation

• DeepL (Germany): Online translator with remarkable capabilities and a growing list of languages.

Maps and navigation

• HERE WeGo (Netherlands): Free app offering pedestrian, car and public transport navigation.

Cloud storage

• Nextcloud (Germany): Open source private cloud platform that can be installed on your own server.
• Cozy Cloud (France): Personal cloud platform with file and password management.

A catalog for digital sovereignty

Constantin Graf, a Vienna-based software developer, created the website European Alternatives for Digital Products in 2021, a catalog that now contains more than 300 European applications. The platform verifies that companies are based in the EU, EEA, EFTA, Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova.

Graf explains that his motivation stemmed from the difficulty of finding European alternatives. "Since the NSA scandal, I always looked to see if there was anything comparable coming from Europe," he says. "After the GDPR, I also professionally checked whether it made sense to use European tools for new projects."

Visits to the website increased significantly after Trump's inauguration. The catalog creator believes that many companies are among the visitors, because pages geared toward business services have seen notable increases in traffic, indicating that the concern about digital sovereignty is not only individual, but also corporate.

The challenge of change: a path forward

Despite the advantages of migrating to European platforms in terms of privacy and data sovereignty, switching digital ecosystems is not easy. Most users are deeply integrated into the Google, Apple, and Microsoft ecosystems, with years of data and customized configurations. Furthermore, while European alternatives are robust, some do not yet offer all the features of their American counterparts, especially in comprehensive business solutions.

However, a gradual shift is possible for any European citizen. You can start by installing Ecosia in your browser, opening a Mastodon account, and planning your transition from Gmail to Proton. Even without completely abandoning networks like Instagram, you can experiment with alternatives like PixelFed. As geopolitical tensions continue and awareness about digital sovereignty grows, more European citizens are likely to follow this path and gradually build a digital ecosystem more aligned with European regulations and values.