Europe is waking up.
After years of watching the power struggle between American and Asian tech giants, the EU is now trying to regain control over its data, infrastructure, and cybersecurity. This awakening, still fragile, is taking shape through new regulations, sovereign tech initiatives… and a clear ambition: no longer be subject to the rules of Silicon Valley.
But is this “resistance” credible? Where is it being deployed? And can it truly reverse decades of technological dependence?
Let’s take a closer look at this ongoing reconquest.
A deeply rooted American dominance
Since the early days of the web, the United States has shaped the global internet.
Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, the main platforms, everyday tools, cloud services, and even submarine cables are mostly controlled by American firms, often closely tied to intelligence and surveillance interests.
The consequences?
- Massive dependency for European businesses and public services
- Systematic exposure to U.S. extraterritorial laws (like the Cloud Act)
- A continuous flow of our personal data to servers often located outside the EU
This imbalance is no longer just economic it’s strategic.
Europe fights back: a multi-pronged approach
Faced with this reality, the European Union has chosen not to stand by. In recent years, it has launched a series of concrete initiatives to reclaim digital sovereignty:
Strong regulations: GDPR, DSA, DMA
- The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), adopted in 2016, laid the foundation for the right to digital privacy.
- The DSA (Digital Services Act) and DMA (Digital Markets Act) aim to regulate large platforms and rebalance the digital playing field.
Sovereign technology initiatives
- GAIA-X: a European cloud designed to host strategic data
- Chips Act: to bring some semiconductor manufacturing back to Europe
- EU Digital Identity Wallet: a secure European digital ID
European-built alternatives: like DNS4EU
Less publicized but just as strategic, DNS4EU (DNS for Europe) is an initiative to build a sovereign DNS service that aligns with European standards — and remains independent from major U.S. players.
DNS4EU: A quiet yet powerful symbol
DNS is the internet’s invisible directory. It’s what enables your device to turn a domain name (like ariovis.fr) into an IP address your browser can understand.
Today, this process mostly runs through DNS servers owned by Google or Cloudflare.
DNS4EU offers a European alternative:
- Hosted within the EU
- Compliant with GDPR
- Not commercially exploited
- Equipped with security filters to block digital threats
It’s a small technical change but a big political statement: Europe still has the capacity to build its own infrastructure.
And this change can start right at home, by reconfiguring your router’s DNS settings.
Taking back control starts at home
Digital sovereignty isn’t just an institutional issue, it’s also about individual choices.
Changing your DNS, protecting your data, understanding who collects what and where it’s sent these simple actions are modern-day digital citizenship.
At Ariovis, we help you make informed choices with step-by-step guides to install DNS4EU based on your internet provider:
- Install DNS4EU on a Freebox
- Install DNS4EU on a box SFR
- Install DNS4EU on a Bbox
- Install DNS4EU on a Livebox
A European shift to watch closely
Europe doesn’t (yet) have its own Google, Amazon, or mass-market operating systems. But it’s laying the groundwork for an alternative digital model — one that’s more ethical, more controlled, and more transparent.
DNS4EU, GAIA-X, GDPR… these are building blocks of a new digital sovereignty.
And for this resistance to become a viable alternative, it must translate into everyday practice. Individuals, businesses, institutions, everyone has a role to play in restoring meaning to the word “independence” in the digital world.