2015 7th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Permission to make digital or hard copies of this publication for internal use within Architectures in Cyberspace NATO and for personal or educational use when for non-profit or non-commercial purposes is granted providing that copies bear this notice and a full citation on the M.Maybaum, A.-M.Osula, L.Lindström (Eds.) first page. Any other reproduction or transmission requires prior written permission 2015 © NATO CCD COE Publications, Tallinn by NATO CCD COE. Technological Sovereignty: Missing the Point? Tim Maurer Isabel Skierka Open Technology Institute Global Public Policy Institute New America Berlin, Germany Washington, DC, USA
[email protected] [email protected] Mirko Hohmann Robert Morgus Global Public Policy Institute Open Technology Institute Berlin, Germany New America
[email protected] Washington, DC, USA
[email protected] Abstract: Following reports of foreign government surveillance starting in June 2013, senior officials and public figures in Europe have promoted proposals to achieve “technological sovereignty”. This paper provides a comprehensive mapping and impact assessment of these proposals, ranging from technical ones, such as new undersea cables, encryption, and localized data storage, to non-technical ones, such as domestic industry support, international codes of conduct, and data protection laws. The analysis focused on the technical proposals reveals that most will not effectively protect against foreign surveillance. Ultimately, the security of data depends primarily not on where it is stored and sent but how it is stored and transmitted. In addition, some proposals could negatively affect the open and free Internet or lead to inefficient allocation of resources.