UK Lawmakers Warn of Strategic Vulnerability to US Cloud Providers

British lawmakers warned that the United Kingdom's increasing reliance on U.S. cloud providers for critical public services creates a strategic and economic vulnerability. The parliamentary science, innovation and technology committee highlighted risks associated with the U.S. CLOUD Act, which could compel U.S.-headquartered companies to disclose data or withdraw services.

Government departments spend approximately £1 billion annually on cloud services. Chi Onwurah, chair of the committee, noted that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft potentially account for 80% of these purchases. Recent high-value contracts include a £473 million deal between HM Revenue & Customs and AWS and a £400 million agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Google Cloud.

While the UK government maintains that data is protected in UK-based centers, Onwurah suggested cooperating with France and Germany to mitigate risks. She noted that Britain is unlikely to build a domestic competitor capable of matching U.S. giants. The committee pointed to France replacing Microsoft Azure with a domestic provider for health data and Germany shifting toward open-source alternatives in Schleswig-Holstein as potential models for increasing sovereignty.