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Independent research practice · Cornwall

Where your data sits matters far less than whose laws it answers to

Papers, scorecard reviews and analysis on digital sovereignty, AI and cyber security. Written by Adrian Hollister, thirty years in technology. Free to quote, republish and translate.

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Home of the Sovereignty Scorecard Conditional Microsoft 365 E5  2.3 of 4 Public reviews of the technology Europe depends on: eight criteria, a published rubric, and a right of reply for every vendor named. The method, the reviews and the Sovereignty Index. Visit the scorecard
Cover of Context Is Everything AltLibre Papers · No. 4 Context Is Everything The interface dissolves and the business runs on context, prompts and agents. What it costs not to build for that. 14 October 2026 Cover of The Sovereign Machine AltLibre Papers · No. 3 The Sovereign Machine Sovereignty as architecture, ethics as controls, and the workforce question answered as design. 7 October 2026
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The Sovereignty Scorecard

Public reviews, published evidence

The method and the reviews →
Review No. 1 · Productivity
Microsoft 365 E5
Conditional 2.3 of 4
as at 25 September 2026 · published 12 October 2026

A US parent, a statutory compulsion pathway confirmed under oath in Paris, keys held by the vendor. Microsoft was shown the evidence and the rubric, given fourteen days, and declined to participate. The reply is published beside the scores.

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Block A · technical Block B · values Block C · decade
The Sovereignty Index · updates fortnightly
Sovereign Conditional Dependent
ProductCategoryOverallTierCaptured
Microsoft 365 E5 Productivity 2.3 Conditional 25 September 2026 Read
01 Eight criteria Residency, keys, exit, transparency, ownership, contract, environment, European sustainability. Each scored out of four against a published rubric.
02 Evidence in the open Every score is tied to a documented fact the reader can check, with the evidence ledger published beside the review.
03 Right of reply Every vendor named is shown the evidence and the rubric and given fourteen days. The reply, or the refusal, is published beside the scores.
AltLibre Papers

The papers

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4
Cover of Context Is Everything
AltLibre Papers, No. 4 · 14 October 2026

Context Is Everything

Applications become data stores, the interface dissolves, and the business runs on context, prompts, agents and personal dashboards: a re-envisioning of the business operating model, and what it costs an organisation not to build one.

18 pages  ·  9 references  ·  CC BY-SA 4.0
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3
Cover of The Sovereign Machine
AltLibre Papers, No. 3 · 7 October 2026

The Sovereign Machine

A blueprint for the AI-enabled IT department: sovereignty as architecture, ethics as controls, and the workforce question answered as design.

30 pages  ·  12 references  ·  CC BY-SA 4.0
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2
Cover of A UK Digital Sovereignty Act
AltLibre Papers, No. 2 · 21 September 2026

A UK Digital Sovereignty Act

A proposal for the statute beneath Britain's data laws: ending silent dependence on foreign-controlled digital infrastructure.

26 pages  ·  38 references  ·  CC BY-SA 4.0
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1
Cover of Your AI Answers to a Foreign Government
AltLibre Papers, No. 1 · 7 September 2026

Your AI Answers to a Foreign Government

What two governments have already done with the power that AI dependency gives them, what European law does and does not change, and what Europe has built to answer it.

25 pages  ·  69 references  ·  CC BY-SA 4.0
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Themes

Key themes

For boards The board series, in order: the questions a board cannot delegate, then where data lives and who can compel it, the supplier you cannot exit, assurance without theatre, and sovereignty as a strategy rather than a cost.
For security and data protection leads Where the data actually walks out: prompt boxes, work devices and the audit that pays for itself.
For policymakers What Europe has already built, what the law does not cover, and where procurement becomes market-making.
Articles

Recent output

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Europe wants its armies off American cloud European defence runs on American cloud: nineteen countries on Microsoft alone. Brussels has drafted the law to change that, and the ministries are fighting it. What the Cloud and AI Development Act does, the oath that settled the sovereignty question, the precedent that shows the machinery has already turned, and three scenarios labelled as what they are. Digital Sovereignty
Windows 10 ESU year two: pay again or leave Microsoft? Year one of paid Windows 10 security updates ends on 13 October 2026, and year two costs twice as much. What ESU costs in the UK, what Cyber Essentials accepts, and the four exits compared, including Linux. IT Strategy
Sovereignty as a Strategy, Not a Cost The compliance case for sovereignty is well rehearsed and slightly dull. The commercial case is newer: a market being created by procurement, and a supplier position that can now be priced. Digital Sovereignty
AI decision logs: how long to keep them under the EU AI Act, DORA and GDPR The EU AI Act sets a six-month floor for high-risk AI logs, DORA lands at five years in practice, and the GDPR obliges you to delete. Which rule governs depends on who you are and what is inside the log. AI & Ethics
Advisory

Advisory

No vendor commissions Clients do not influence what is published

AltLibre takes a small amount of advisory work alongside the research: jurisdiction and dependency reviews, second opinions, procurement and exit strategy, board briefings.

How advisory works