The authorities in Germany have so far largely avoided Google’s cloud services due to data protection concerns. A “sovereign cloud” is now to be created through cooperation with T-Systems.
T-Systems and Google have agreed on a strategic cooperation for Germany, which is intended to enable the public sector to use the US Group’s cloud services in a legally correct and secure manner.
The two companies announced this on Wednesday as part of the Digital X digitization initiative in Cologne. With the new offer, which should be available from mid-2022, T-Systems operates a special version of the Google Cloud in which the data is encrypted end-to-end.
T-Systems will take responsibility for a number of operational measures and control mechanisms in order to maintain sovereignty, it said. This also includes encryption and identity management.
In addition, T-Systems is to control relevant parts of the German Google cloud infrastructure. “Any physical or virtual access to facilities in Germany – for example with routine maintenance and upgrades – will be carried out jointly under the supervision of T-Systems and Google Cloud.”
With this construct, Google and T-Systems are responding to reservations that are expressed, particularly in the public sector in Europe, against the so-called hyperscalers from the USA. At the latest with the revelations of the US whistleblower Edward Snowden, it became known that US secret services like the NSA access technically available data from Europe without having to appeal to European courts.
This challenge is technically solved in the new cooperation through the extensive use of encryption technology. T-Systems stores the keys for customers in order to guarantee security and control over data access. T-Systems will initially provide the “sovereign cloud offering” for German companies from various sectors such as healthcare, the automotive industry, local public transport and the public sector. Existing European guidelines for sovereign clouds, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), would be complied with.
In cloud computing, Google faces tough competition around the world, especially with Amazon AWS and Microsoft. All three US corporations are trying to win tenders from public institutions in Europe.
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