- Ironically, if Google does create an EU spinoff just to run analytics as a free service, it will kill the local competitors
- The NSA is not "exempt": https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/07/eu-court-again-rules-n...
Turns out, shockingly, that Google already have some in the EU for some totally unknown reason. Might have something to do with making $XX billion in the region each year.
The problem is, some USA Googler can issue a query to an EU server and still access data he's not supposed to see. A FISA court can require him to do that and not tell anyone. No legal document written by a business can override a court decision, so nothing any US company can do helps here.
Google might create a local company with local personnel. The theory goes, when the USA Googler orders a lookup of some date, the EU Googler says can't do that, it's illegal.
I wonder why Microsoft's Office365 or Windows platform aren't hit by these lawsuits. The issues are the same, and the information gained seems much more interesting.
BUT, it's much harder to US three-letter agencies to obtain access to data residing in France, or the other way around - that would require hacking, and that carries a much higher degree of difficulty and risk (not that I would ever imagine it doesn't still happen).
EU law does apply when national security concerns of non member states are engaged, though hence the Schrems cases succeeding (and why the UK in on shaky ground when it comes to equivalency decisions post-Brexit).
Eurpol is currently on trial for violating it, as was the German BND previously.
