Mark Scott might be right ( E urope is fighting tech battle with one hand tied behind its back ) , European rules may not create the best climate for all-encompassing digital powers. At first glance, there are also simple answers at hand: do we want to tolerate a chinese-type surveillance state or adopt an american-type business-is-all-that-counts mindset to be digital champions? Can we, on the other hand, exclude Chinese (think Huawei) or U.S. (Google knows it all, Amazon sells it all, etc.) giants and be digital champions only for ourselves, playing by our own rules? The success of European rules also over Facebook and the like - enter Maximian Schrems - means that we enjoy what these companies developed on the back of the citizens of their countries but we are not able to conquer their lands. To give a more balanced answer, we need to step one step back. Of course data are not the only force and not the only obstacle ( see also on Politico ) , let us, however, look at them.