Survey of 6,698 people across six EU countries: around 84% said they don't trust US tech companies with their personal data; 93% don't trust Chinese companies
Europe is rolling out measures to keep data local and reduce reliance on foreign tech. — More than 8 in 10 Europeans …
Context & Ripple Effects
The EU survey extends a longer erosion of public confidence in technology firms: a prior global study found that trust in tech fell amid misinformation and privacy concerns, while a US survey showed broad skepticism that people can avoid corporate or government data collection. Trust in tech had already weakened globally and many people felt data collection was inescapable.
It matters because the reported distrust is paired with European measures to localize data and reduce dependence on foreign providers, turning a consumer-attitude problem into a practical constraint on how technology services are delivered in the EU.
First-order effects
- US and Chinese technology providers face a less-trusting European customer base precisely as the EU pursues more local handling of personal data and less reliance on foreign technology.
- European buyers and public institutions gain another reason to prioritize services whose data practices, hosting, and governance can be demonstrated locally.
Second-order effects
- Foreign cloud, software, and AI vendors will face stronger pressure to offer EU-specific data controls and clearer assurances over where data is processed and governed.
- European providers and regional infrastructure partners may gain a procurement advantage where customers treat jurisdiction and data locality as selection criteria rather than secondary compliance features.
Third-order effects
- If distrust continues to align with policy, digital competition in Europe may increasingly be organized around jurisdictional delivery: providers will need to compete not only on product quality but on the legal and operational location of data.
- The split between trust in providers and trust in cross-border data handling could reinforce a more regionally segmented technology market, though surveys alone cannot establish how quickly attitudes translate into purchasing or regulatory outcomes.
The trend: This is one data point in the shift toward jurisdictional technology markets, where data sovereignty and provider trust shape access to customers alongside technical capability.