The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can no longer operate independently of the President. In practice, the President of the United States now has total control over the very agency that is supposed to protect your privacy. This changes everything: Europe had relied on the FTC as a neutral guarantor when signing the data transfer agreement. Now that that guardian no longer legally exists, the entire agreement collapses. Your data traveling to the U.S. no longer has any valid legal protection. NOYB has already asked the European Commission to immediately annul this agreement and is preparing a lawsuit, but in the meantime, your data remains exposed without a shield.
Did you read that article about Apple and the regulatory dilemma: UE vs. US? Remember how we discussed how companies try to get around the rules? Here, there’s no need to get around them at all: the rules themselves have been dismantled from above. Europe continues to pretend that international agreements work, but the reality is that you can’t negotiate fundamental rights with a system that doesn’t recognize them.
Do you still believe your data is safe because “the EU signed an agreement”?
That signature is worth nothing. The Supreme Court has just ruled that there are no independent authorities in the U.S. to protect you. So, every time you use an American service, you’re handing over your data to a system where the President can decide how to use it. It’s no longer a matter of “risk” – it’s a certainty: your privacy has been sold off by a court ruling.
Imagine depositing your savings in a safe that you believe is guarded by an independent bank employee. It then turns out that the bank’s owner has just fired that employee and taken the keys himself, declaring that he’s now the one who decides who can look inside. You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand that your money is no longer safe.
That’s exactly what happened to your data. The FTC was that “independent banker” that Europe believed would safeguard your data once it reached the U.S. The Supreme Court has just ruled that that “banker” no longer exists:
The “owner” (the U.S. President) has total control.
So, every time you upload a photo or send a message to a U.S. server, you’re entrusting your information to someone who has the legal power to access it whenever they want. It’s no longer a theoretical risk – it’s the new legal reality.
Don’t wait for politicians to do something. Take action yourself, today:
Check where your data is stored: If the servers are in the U.S., stop using them or look for European alternatives that guarantee local data storage.
Don’t trust “guarantees”: If a company tells you that your data is protected by international agreements, ask where the servers are physically located. If the answer is vague or mentions the U.S., you already know that protection is an illusion.
Support true sovereignty: Use tools that don’t rely on foreign jurisdictions. If you have to choose between a free American service and a paid European one that guarantees local data storage, choose the latter. The price you pay is your privacy insurance.
Demand transparency: Ask the companies you work for or interact with what measures they’re taking in the wake of the Slaughter ruling. If they can’t answer, it means they aren’t protecting your data.
You might be wondering:
What if I used a decentralized network?
The centralized model has just collapsed, but decentralization isn’t a magic bullet either. Peer-to-peer networks sometimes still have relay servers that might be located on U.S. soil. The fundamental difference, however, lies in a technical detail that changes everything: end-to-end encryption. If your data is encrypted before it even leaves your device, whoever operates the relay sees only millions of unreadable bytes. Not even company employees can access the content – not even under pressure from the U.S. government – because they don’t have the keys to decrypt it. The U.S. server becomes nothing more than a pipe through which noise passes.
Meishi is an example of an application that follows this logic exactly. And you can trust it – not because I say so, but because it will be open source: anyone will be able to verify that the encryption really works as promised, without black boxes or false security claims. It’s not the perfect, definitive solution, but it represents a concrete attempt to move away from the centralized model that has just failed. True digital sovereignty does not lie in seeking the perfect deal with Washington, but in building systems where control remains in your hands, protected by mathematics, not diplomacy.
Now that you know your data is exposed, what will you do? Will you keep pretending that nothing has changed, hoping someone will save you? Or will you start taking control of your digital life, making informed choices about where to store your data and accepting that privacy requires effort and sacrifice? The Supreme Court’s ruling isn’t a technical issue. It’s a test. It’s asking you:
How much is the privacy of your data worth to you?
The answer depends on your actions, not on the promises of others. Choose which side you’re on.
The concept of Data Sovereignty in the Meishi Manifesto is missing here. If access to our data is restricted for commercial, regulatory, power, or security reasons, are we owners or just renters of our own lives? Data Sovereignty isn’t a gift – it’s a right we build ourselves. While you wait for the next post, I ask you:
Who do you want to control your data?
5–7 Big Tech companies
200+ governments
You
Choose wisely!
✊❤️🔒
Own Your Data
Marco Parisi
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