"Blackmailability" concerns: Computer scientists oppose BSI-Google cloud deal

The German Informatics Society (GI) is not happy about the recently announced cooperation agreement between Google and the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) to develop "secure and sovereign cloud solutions for public authorities". According to the association, the agreement raises "significant security and economic policy as well as competition and data protection issues". Extensive European and national efforts to strengthen digital sovereignty would be nullified by this step.

"The BSI-Google cooperation is a potential booster for Germany's digital dependence on and blackmailability by the USA," write the GI working groups for digital sovereignty, open source and data protection and IT security in an analysis published on Thursday. Due to the legal situation in the USA, Google is not even in a position to offer a sovereign service in the sense required in this country. US presidents such as Donald Trump could "always turn off the lights". Other points of criticism include a lack of transparency, for example in dealing with the Cloud Act, and a distortion of competition that puts European companies at a disadvantage due to a "TÜV stamp".

The IT experts also point out that Google's business model is primarily based on the collection, analysis and use of third-party data. Even if the US company assures "that no commercial use will be made of the official and company data stored in Germany", its strategy of selling data remains in place.

The BSI does not understand the uproar

BSI President Claudia Plattner counters with a statement on "digital sovereignty in times of cyber dominance". According to her, manufacturers of mobile devices, operating systems, smart home solutions and operators of social media and cloud platforms can exert a strong influence on users, as they have access to information and control over systems. As a solution, the head of the authority brings "sovereign control layers" such as encryption, national data storage or the control of update channels into play.

According to Plattner, the BSI concludes cooperation agreements with providers specifically for cloud solutions in order to be able to "examine their services in detail and with due care and derive suitable requirements". This is the only way to provide a "binding legal framework for exchanging highly confidential information and carrying out technical analyses and assessments". This would not be used to make procurement or deployment decisions. The BSI's task would be to evaluate a broad spectrum. Users are then free to choose. The office also works together with SAP and Oracle. Collaborations with Amazon (AWS) and the digital offshoot of the Schwarz Group around Lidl are planned.

(nen)