Beware of EU-Washing
The article discusses concerns about 'EU-washing,' where European alternatives to US tech products may not be genuinely ethical. It emphasizes the need for critical evaluation of these alternatives rather than accepting them at face value. The author advocates for maintaining high standards and resisting unethical practices, regardless of the product's origin.
- ▪The term 'EU-washing' refers to the practice of rebranding US products as European without genuine ethical improvements.
- ▪Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is moving away from using Palantir in favor of a French software solution.
- ▪The author argues against accepting EU versions of unethical technologies, stressing the importance of consumer protections and rights.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
beware of EU-washing 24 May, 2026 Among all this talk of European sovereignty and switching to European alternatives in a move to better privacy and less support of Big Tech, I wish for more emphasis on not just blindly copying US products and slapping an EU label on it. I see news like the Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution backing away from using Palantir and using a software solution from France instead. I’m supposed to feel happy reading this, and admittedly I did not yet dig into ArgonOS deeply - but all I can think of as a first reaction is “I don’t want an EU version of Palantir.” I don’t want ‘GDPR-compliant’ facial recognition and behavioral surveillance in our cities. I don’t want more privacy-friendly warfare (???).
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at ava's blog.
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