Why GDPR Demands EU Hosting — and Why the CLOUD Act Makes US Hosting Risky

Your Data in Europe — or in US Hands?

If you run a business within the EU, GDPR is not optional — it’s the law. But did you know that if you host your services with an American provider like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure, your data can still end up in the hands of US authorities?

The answer lies in the CLOUD Act — a US law that grants American authorities the right to demand data from American companies, regardless of where in the world the data is stored.

What Is the CLOUD Act?

The CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) was enacted in 2018 and gives US law enforcement agencies the authority to request data from American technology companies — even if the data is physically stored in Europe. It doesn’t matter whether your AWS instance runs in Frankfurt or Stockholm. As long as the provider is an American company, the CLOUD Act applies.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requires that personal data within the EU is protected and not transferred to third countries without an adequate level of protection. The US is not considered to have an adequate level of protection by the Court of Justice of the EU (Schrems II ruling, 2020).

This creates a direct legal conflict:

CLOUD Act says: “Hand over the data.”
GDPR says: “You may not hand over the data.”

Companies that use American cloud services are stuck in the middle — and it’s you as the customer who bears the responsibility if personal data is exposed.

Real-World Consequences

GDPR fines can reach 20 million euros or 4% of global annual turnover. Several European data protection authorities have already taken action against companies using American cloud services without adequate safeguards:

Austria’s data protection authority ruled in 2022 that use of Google Analytics violated GDPR.
France’s CNIL followed with the same assessment.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) prohibited the EU Parliament from using Microsoft 365 without additional safeguards.

The Solution: Host in Sweden, with a Swedish Company

By choosing a Swedish hosting provider that is not subject to American law, you eliminate the CLOUD Act risk entirely. Your data stays in Sweden, protected by Swedish and European law.

At No-Ack Hosting, we offer:

Data centre in Stockholm — your data never leaves Sweden
No American parent company — the CLOUD Act does not apply to us
Full GDPR compliance — we are a Swedish company under Swedish jurisdiction
Daily backups across three locations
Own network (AS30893) with 100G uplinks

What Services Do We Offer?

Whether you need a simple VPS or dedicated servers, we have the solution:

KVM VPS from 70 SEK/month — perfect for web applications and development environments
Dedicated servers — full control and performance for demanding projects
Co-location in Stockholm — place your own hardware in our data centre from 850 SEK/month
Web hosting from 600 SEK/year — simple hosting for business websites

Summary

If you take GDPR seriously — and you should — it’s not enough to store data “in the EU”. You must also ensure that your provider is not subject to laws like the CLOUD Act. The only safe path is to choose a European provider with no ties to the US.

Ready to move your hosting to safe Swedish ground? Contact us or order a VPS directly.