According to Geopol, digital sovereignty refers to a country’s ability to control and govern its own digital infrastructure, data and technologies in alignment with national laws, values and interests. “In simple terms, it’s about who owns, controls and protects data and digital systems within a given territory,” it says.

This has been present for many years, with China’s tactic to inspect web traffic passing through its networks well documented. An article on the Comparitech web site claims China “will first demand that a western tech company comply with its surveillance or censorship demands in order to continue operating in the country. This constant surveillance leads to what it calls “an atmosphere of distrust, and has a chilling effect on freedoms of speech, expression, movement and assembly.”

In the past few months, though, especially since the second US presidency of Donald Trump, there has been increased searches of electronic devices at ports of entry, while Greg Nojeim, director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, told Reuters there was an increased concern by Europeans about the US government accessing their data, whether stored on devices or in the cloud.

“Not only does US law permit the government to search devices of anyone entering the country, it can compel disclosure of data that Europeans outside the US store or transmit through US communications service providers,” said Nojeim.