The migration has begun
9 February 2026 // Written By Erin Gallup
The American tech giants are deeply intertwined into global infrastructure and the lives of people. However, political relationships are changing as well as public sentiment.
For many people, the American tech companies have made serious moral, legal and unethical transgressions that they can no longer ignore. They are now actively looking for alternatives that are privacy-respecting, non-profit, sustainability-committed, and European.
Below is a breakdown: both why people want to switch and the alternatives they are switching to.
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A note on why European options are particularly sought: European companies are bound by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as stricter sustainability reporting requirements which gives users more legal recourse if something goes wrong.
1. Professional networking: LinkedIn → XING
Why people want to switch: In August 2024, LinkedIn (owned by Microsoft) quietly turned on a setting that fed users personal data - posts, messages, and profile information - into generative AI training, without updating its privacy policy first. It only disclosed the change after journalists flagged it. A class-action lawsuit was filed in January 2025 alleging that LinkedIn used people’s messages to train AI models.
What they are switching to: XING (Germany) is a professional networking platform for German-speaking DACH countries. It operates under GDPR compliance and European privacy standards. Its features are similar to LinkedIn with personal profiles, company pages, job searches, and groups for industry networking.
2. Software: Microsoft 365 → Proton Business Suite
Why people want to switch: U.S. Department of Justice files in January 2026 revealed that Microsoft advisors are connected to Jeffrey Epstein. In addition, Microsoft contributed to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, is actively shaping its own favorable AI regulations, has been abandoning its climate commitments, and is central to Israel’s surveillance apparatus and the ongoing Gaza destruction.
What they are switching to: Proton Business Suite (Switzerland) is provider of end-to-end encrypted email, calendar, cloud storage, documents, and spreadsheets, a near-complete Microsoft 365 replacement. It is ISO 27001 certified, SOC 2 Type II audited, and powers its infrastructure entirely from servers in Switzerland, under Swiss privacy law. Proton is operated by Proton AG, a Swiss for-profit company that is majority-owned and controlled by the non-profit Proton Foundation with a mission to build a better internet that serves the interests of all of society.
3. Phone: iPhone / Android Phones → Fairphone
Why people want to switch: Both Apple and Google have been recognised to have labor abuses in the production of their phones, including wage withholding, ethnic discrimination, workplace bullying and inadequate safety. Both Apple and Google are donors to Donald Trump’s ballroom and have publicly aligned themselves to him. Both Apple and Google have been sued for being monopolies. Both Apple and Google have had user privacy breaches. Both Apple and Google have been recognised as complicit to the war in Gaza.
What they are switching to: Fairphone (Netherlands) is Europe's only smartphone manufacturer, and is designed with repairability, longevity, and ethical sourcing as core principles. It is fair trade, modular (parts can be replaced), and is built to last years rather than months. While Fairphone is a private company, it is a European registered B Corporation. (Note: if you are looking to migrate, make the switch when you actually need a new phone as using your current phone longer is better for the environment.)
4. Phone OS: Android / iOS → /e/OS or GrapheneOS
Why people want to switch: Google (Android's creator) was found by a U.S. federal court in August 2024 to have illegally monopolised the search and search advertising markets. It also has a long list of privacy violations including data leaks, excessive cookie tracking, wi-fi network data collection, excessive search data collection, and government tracking systems. Apple also is guilty of excessive tracking through its apps.
What they are switching to: /e/OS is a “deGoogled” version of Android OS. It has an open-source Android OS core, with no Google apps or Google services accessing user’s personal data. It is run by the e Foundation, a French non-profit. GrapheneOS is also a privacy-focused, open-source Android derivative built specifically for Google Pixel hardware. It strips out Google services, blocks tracking, and gives users granular control over what their phone can access. It's run by the Graphene Foundation, a Canadian non-profit, is maintained by a community and is free.
5. Desktop Computer → Framework
Why people want to switch: In 2021 the global tech sector produced between 2–3% of the world's carbon emissions and that figure is now on the rise due to AI. A 2024 UN report found e-waste is growing five times faster than documented recycling efforts. Every new device manufactured carries an enormous embodied carbon cost from mining, manufacturing, and global shipping.
What they are switching to: Framework (a US-based private company) produces a modular, repairable laptop designed to last a decade. (Note: the most sustainable computer is the one you already own, or a well-maintained second-hand machine. Extending device lifespans even by one year dramatically cuts a tech item’s carbon footprint.)
6. Desktop OS: Windows / macOS → Linux
Why people want to switch: For their operating system, Microsoft's extractive data practices - from hacking vulnerabilities to Windows' telemetry collection - is seen as a disregard for user privacy. Apple has faced repeated accusations of deliberately slowing older machine’s operating systems to encourage upgrades, contributing directly to the e-waste crisis.
What they are switching to: Linux is a free, open-source operating system maintained by the Linux Foundation, a nonprofit consortium headquartered in the US. There are many operating system distributions based of Linux including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux, and Linux Mint.
7. Browser: Google Chrome / Safari / Edge → Vivaldi
Why people want to switch: Google Chrome collects a large amount of user data - browsing history, location, device identifiers, and more - which feeds directly into Google's advertising empire. The 2024 antitrust ruling confirmed that this data dominance is part of how Google illegally maintains its monopoly. Apple's Safari, while better on privacy, is still a closed-source product from a company with the transgressions outlined throughout.
What they are switching to: Vivaldi is a browser produced by Vivaldi Technologies AS, a Norwegian employee-owned corporation, is subject to strong EU privacy requirements, does not track its users, and makes money through individual donations and partner deals with search engines like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia.
8. Search: Google / Bing → Ecosia
Why people want to switch: Google's illegal search monopoly is maintained in part by paying billions to be the default search engine on browsers and devices - a practice the court ruled is anticompetitive. Google also holds a dominant position in ad tech that a second court ruling (April 2025) found to be independently illegal.
What they are switching to: Ecosia is a nonprofit search engine based in Berlin, Germany. It channels 100% of its profits into climate action projects - primarily reforestation - and has funded the planting of over 200 million trees. It powers its servers with 200% renewable energy (producing twice what it consumes). It does not build user profiles or sell data. It is B-Corp certified and steward-owned, meaning no shareholder can extract profits or redirect its mission.
9. Messaging: WhatsApp → Signal
Why people want to switch: In 2019, Israeli cyber-ingelligence firm NSO Group's Pegasus spyware exploited a vulnerability in WhatsApp (owned by Meta) to compromise the devices of over 1,400 users, including journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, and diplomats across 51 countries. A court ruling in October 2025 permanently barred NSO from targeting WhatsApp again, but the vulnerability exposed the risks inherent in Meta's infrastructure. Meta also collects extensive metadata even when messages are encrypted.
What they are switching to: Signal is non-profit-run, end-to-end encrypted messaging app. It collects minimal metadata, and is open-source. It is run by the Signal Foundation, a US-based nonprofit.
10. Cloud Email: Gmail / Outlook → Proton Mail
Why people want to switch: In January of 2026 Gmail (by Google) was recently part of a massive security breach where 48 million user names and passwords were leaked online. Microsoft's Outlook has also faced repeated security breaches- including a 2023 incident in which Chinese hackers gained access to email accounts of senior US government officials via Microsoft's cloud infrastructure.
What they are switching to: Proton Mail (Switzerland) is an end-to-end encrypted email provider headquartered in Europe, subject to GDPR, and powered by renewable energy. It was born out of CERN and is used by journalists and activists worldwide for its security.
11. AI/LLM: Chat GPT / Claude / Gemini → Mistral AI / Aleph Alpha
Why people want to switch: U.S. AI companies face over 70 copyright lawsuits for training their models on millions of articles, books, and creative works without permission. ChatGPT has suffered multiple data breaches exposing user conversations and payment info. Google testified under oath that Gemini ignores publisher opt-outs, forcing sites to choose between search traffic and privacy. Anthropic reversed Claude's "privacy-first" policy in September 2025, switching to opt-in-by-default model training with data storing jumping from 30 days to 5 years. Beyond digital harms, AI data centers are also compromising communities, consuming their fresh water, polluting their air and driving up electricity costs.
What they are switching to: Mistral AI (France) and Aleph Alpha (Germany) are Europe's leading AI companies. Mistral offers open-weight models that can be self-hosted, meaning data stays within a user’s own infrastructure. Aleph Alpha is Germany's sovereign AI provider, designed for government and enterprise with GDPR compliance built in. Both operate under EU jurisdiction (not subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act), emphasize data sovereignty and privacy-by-design, and are significantly more transparent about training data sources and energy usage than their U.S. counterparts.
