UK Warned Over Growing Reliance on US Cloud Providers

Britain’s increasing dependence on U.S. cloud computing companies for critical government services could create a major strategic and economic vulnerability, lawmakers have warned, raising concerns about data sovereignty and foreign legal jurisdiction.

UK government departments spend roughly £1 billion ($1.3 billion) annually on cloud services, according to parliamentary committee estimates. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft could account for as much as 80% of public-sector cloud purchases, although officials lack precise figures on the government’s overall exposure.

Chi Onwurah, chair of parliament’s science, innovation and technology committee, highlighted potential risks linked to the U.S. CLOUD Act. Experts told lawmakers that U.S.-based cloud providers could, under certain circumstances, be legally required to disclose information stored on their systems or potentially withdraw services.

The concerns are becoming more significant as sensitive UK health, defence and tax systems increasingly rely on American technology companies.

HM Revenue & Customs recently awarded AWS a £473 million contract spanning 10 years to manage UK tax data. The Ministry of Defence has also signed a £400 million agreement with Google Cloud, while National Health Service trusts are transferring patient records from traditional servers to U.S.-owned cloud infrastructure.

UK departments maintain that government information remains protected through data centres located in Britain and that contracts must comply with security and data protection standards.

However, lawmakers are examining ways to reduce reliance on individual foreign suppliers. Onwurah acknowledged that Britain is unlikely to develop a domestic cloud provider capable of competing directly with the largest U.S. companies, suggesting closer cooperation with France and Germany as an alternative.

European governments are already taking steps toward greater digital sovereignty. France replaced Microsoft Azure with domestic provider Scaleway for its national health data hub in April, while Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein has moved away from Microsoft products in favour of open-source technology.

The European Commission is also developing measures designed to strengthen European cloud and artificial intelligence sovereignty.

The UK government said it is working to improve public-sector cloud resilience and procurement, requiring departments to consider risks created by excessive dependence on individual technology suppliers.