Driven by privacy fears and political shifts, more Europeans are ditching US tech giants for local digital services, sparking fresh debate over digital sovereignty.

The nonprofit Topio operates a market stall in Berlin where volunteers assist individuals in eliminating the influence of US tech companies from their mobile devices. There has been an increase in the line for their services since Donald Trump took office.

In recent months, interest in digital services located in Europe has increased, according to online market research firm Similarweb. More users outside the US are turning to alternative providers for email, messaging, and search services.

Since Trump announced that his nation would withdraw from its role in the safety of Europe and then started a trade war, some Europeans have lost faith in their longtime partner in the first few months of his second term.

Michael Wirths, the founder of Topio, stated that it concerns the centralized position of power in US companies when his colleague installed an Android operating system version without any Google ecosystem hooks on a customer's phone. According to Wirths, the people who used to visit the stand were more knowledgeable about data privacy. These days, it's those who feel exposed and politically conscious.

Before the two fell out, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the owner of the social networking platform X, was a top advisor to the US president. Key positions at Trump's January inauguration were held by representatives of Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet, which is owned by Google.