This month, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) announced having started to use the Open source Nextcloud suite and Collabora Online. This decision is a result of the data protection authority’s Digital Strategy for a safer digital future. While the initiative is yet just a pilot, these first steps might imply a wider uptake of OSS solutions in the EU institutions. As the implementation of Nextcloud was facilitated through a partnership with TAS Cloud Services for the integration with the EU login, the solution could be reused in other EU services.
The Nextcloud suite will offer the possibility for EDPS employees to benefit from a collaborative cloud solution that ensures compliance with the EU’s data protection law. As the EDPS strategy already committed to, the supervisor is trying to “minimise [their] reliance on monopoly providers of communications and software services, to avoid detrimental lock-in and work with other EUI and other public administrations in the EU, so they can do the same”. The European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski confirmed this: ”Open Source Software offers data protection-friendly alternatives to commonly used large-scale cloud service providers that often imply the transfer of individuals’ personal data to non-EU countries. Solutions like this may therefore minimise reliance on monopoly providers and detrimental vendor lock-in.“
The following months will decide whether this integration is successful and how this pilot can be adapted by other EU institutions to ensure proper data protection enforcement. By using open source software, the institutions could avoid sub-processors of data and therefore prevent data transfer to non-EU countries.