Detlef Schmuck: “The US-China trade conflict could spread to Germany at any time. Then German companies could be cut off overnight from their data stored by US services”.
Hamburg, September 8, 2020 – The USA is threatening Chinese and European companies that are contrary to the interests of the US government, in some cases with drastic sanctions. The spectrum ranges from the online platform TikTok and the IT company Tencent to the ferry port of Sassnitz in connection with the Nordstream 2 pipeline. Usually such sanctions involve blocking access to the servers, freezing company assets in the USA and arrest warrants against those responsible. Against this background, the Hamburg data service provider TeamDrive GmbH has launched the initiative “Secure IT Port Germany“. Tenor: The German economy is called upon to store its company data consistently with providers that have their headquarters in Germany and whose servers are located exclusively in Germany. If data is stored abroad, the U.S. government could block access at any time by decree, if only as collateral damage of a more comprehensive sanctions program.
“Anyone who cannot access his data is facing ruin”
“A company that can no longer access its databases from one day to the next will be driven to ruin within a very short time,” says Detlef Schmuck, Managing Director of TeamDrive GmbH and initiator of “Secure IT Port Germany”. He explains: “So far, the sanctions imposed by the US government in the digital economy have been directed exclusively against Chinese companies. However, the behavior of the USA with Nordstream-2 and the suspension of the EU-US Privacy Shield by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could almost overnight put German companies that rely on US data services in a predicament. According to the ECJ ruling, it is already more than doubtful whether US corporations such as Amazon, Google or Facebook will be allowed to offer their data services in Europe at all. The sanctioned attack on the ferry port of Sassnitz is an example of the arbitrariness of the US government in defending its economic interests, including those of German companies. Who can say whether the incumbent president will not suddenly issue a decree that cuts off German companies from their data stored with U.S. providers? It would be ruinous for almost all companies if they could no longer access their data”.
TeamDrive Managing Director Detlef Schmuck makes it clear that even encrypted data in a high-security center is of no use if access to it is blocked by sanctions. He says: “Every German managing director or board member must be aware that all US data service providers are of course subject to US legislation. If the US government decrees that these providers are not allowed to release company data of European companies, then the US providers are forced to follow these instructions. It is completely irrelevant which service or other contracts the German companies have concluded with the respective US company.
As part of the “Secure IT Port Germany” initiative, TeamDrive recommends a hybrid IT strategy: For functionality, the local companies should continue to access US programs, but the storage of company data should be carried out by German data service providers on servers in Germany without exception. As an example of this, TeamDrive boss Detlef Schmuck cites the combination of Microsoft Office with the company’s own data service at www.teamdrive.com. “Office and TeamDrive work together seamlessly,” assures Detlef Schmuck, “and the data remains in German hands regardless of the restrictions or sanctions to which Microsoft, as a US provider, may be subject in the future.
