France has selected Scaleway, a subsidiary of the telecommunications group Iliad, to host its national Health Data Hub, replacing Microsoft Azure. The decision follows years of controversy over data privacy, security, and legal control of sensitive medical information stored on a US-owned platform.
The Health Data Hub contains the health records of tens of millions of French citizens and is designed to replicate the national health data system (SNDS) managed by the French health insurance system. Researchers use the platform to access large-scale, long-term data for studies on public health, disease patterns, and treatment outcomes.
From Microsoft to Scaleway: A Sovereignty-Driven Shift
Microsoft was originally chosen in 2019 to provide the cloud infrastructure for the Hub. However, France's data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), soon issued a critical opinion highlighting risks to data privacy and security. French regulators argued that even if data was stored physically in France, US authorities could still access it under American law, given Microsoft's status as a US company.
In February, the French government announced its intention to withdraw the Hub from Microsoft by the end of the year. A law passed in 2024 now mandates “sovereign-guaranteed” hosting for sensitive data, effectively forcing the migration.
“This migration is part of a long-standing effort to maintain a high level of security and trust for all users of the platform,” said Hela Ghariani, director of the Health Data Platform, in a press release. She added that the move “marks an important step in accelerating the use of SNDS data and broader health-data-driven research and innovation in France and across Europe.”
The new system is expected to go fully live between late 2026 and early 2027.
Broader European Push Away from US Big Tech
France's decision is not an isolated one. Across Europe, governments are reducing their reliance on major US technology providers in public administration. Germany's state of Schleswig-Holstein is shifting 30,000 government workstations away from Microsoft tools. In Denmark, parts of the public administration are transitioning to the open-source LibreOffice suite.
The European Commission has reinforced this trend by awarding a €180 million cloud contract to a consortium that includes Scaleway, OVHcloud, STACKIT, and Post Telecom. The move reflects a growing desire for digital sovereignty, particularly for sensitive data like health records.
This shift also comes as European tech companies like Mistral AI gain attention in the AI race, with Elon Musk's xAI exploring a partnership with France's Mistral to challenge OpenAI. Meanwhile, Meta and Microsoft have trimmed workforces to fund their AI infrastructure race, highlighting the competitive dynamics in the sector.
The Health Data Hub migration underscores a broader European commitment to data sovereignty, security, and trust in public health research. As France moves its health data to a domestic provider, it sets a precedent for other EU member states grappling with similar concerns.
