DiPLab’s Thomas Le Bonniec is the central voice in a new mini-series on Le Code a Changé (France Inter), one of France’s leading technology radio programs. Across three episodes, host Xavier de La Porte draws on Le Bonniec’s research and personal trajectory to examine one of the most urgent questions facing Europe today: what does it mean to be technologically dependent on American Big Tech, and what, if anything, can be done about it? Episode 1 — The Omnibus directive: a threat to personal data The series opens with the EU’s proposed Digital Omnibus directive, which Le Bonniec describes as a potential “oil spill on our personal data.” Framed by European policymakers as a simplification measure to ease regulatory burden on businesses, the directive risks quietly dismantling core protections established by the GDPR. Le Bonniec’s concern is that the directive introduces a subjective definition of personal data, allowing companies to decide for themselves whether the data they hold qualifies for protection. The right of access (one of European personal data protection pillars) is directly threatened. “You cannot be a free citizen if you are under constant surveillance,” he warns. “Mass surveillance, when named as such, tends to be associated with states… but corporations are just as capable of it.” Episode 2 — America, digital colonizer The second episode widens the lens. Le Bonniec traces a convergence between Silicon Valley’s techno-solutionist ideology and the political currents of Trumpism. Both share a vision of history in which a self-appointed elite carries the future of humanity on its shoulders. Europe’s digital dependency is not merely industrial, he argues: it is political. The erosion of European values and the mass capture of European data by American platforms represent a form of domination that too many European leaders continue to underestimate. Episode 3 — Story of a whistleblower The final episode is the most personal. Le Bonniec speaks from direct experience: he previously worked as a subcontractor for Apple, listening to recordings captured by voice assistants without users’ knowledge. Despite repeated scandals implicating Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft in mass data collection, no meaningful sanctions have followed. His conclusion is not resignation but a call for collective action: stop blaming individuals for structural problems, invest in free and open-source software as a path to sovereignty, and consider dismantling digital monopolies rather than merely regulating them.