The Netherlands has become heavily dependent on American tech companies, with two-thirds of key public and private services relying on US cloud providers, according to an investigation by broadcaster NOS.

An analysis of 16,500 domain names used by government bodies, hospitals, schools and other essential organisations shows that 67% are linked to at least one American cloud service. This includes websites, email systems and tools such as Microsoft Teams, meaning everyday services from online shopping at Albert Heijn to access to patient portals depend on US infrastructure, NOS said.

The NOS research comes as Dutch tech company Solvinity, which helps run key systems such as the government’s DigiD person identification system, is set to be taken over by an American firm.

Microsoft dominates the market, with a 49% share among the domains checked by NOS researchers. The caretaker government announced in October that the tax office will also move its email to Microsoft, following earlier switches by parliament and financial regulators.

The dependence is particularly visible in healthcare. Of around 70 hospitals with online patient portals, 29 rely on American servers. In 28 cases these are linked to Microsoft infrastructure, meaning patient data passes through US servers when people log in.

GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann said the situation had “spiralled out of control”. “Our country is hooked up to the drip of Trump’s tech companies,” she said, warning that US sanctions could force providers to cut off services.

The Netherlands, she said, is now “in a stranglehold” and must become digitally independent much faster to reduce the risks.

US legislation allows American intelligence and law enforcement agencies to demand access to all data held on US cloud services, even when it is stored in Europe.

National security

A year ago the government said it would explore how to reduce dependence on foreign cloud service providers, following an audit office report which said government ministries use cloud storage to manage 1,588 services, of which 700 are based on open services offered by American companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

In March MPs urged the government to stop migrating confidential information about tax returns, contracts, and medical records to US cloud services, saying they are a threat to Dutch cyber security.

Last week officials said the Solvinity takeover can only be stopped if the deal is deemed to be a threat to national security.