Microblogging services · Photo and video sharing social networks
Open source federated microblogging network
Open sourceOpen source♻High non-EU dependencyOperational dependency warning
Current public evidence shows 4 non-European infrastructure or email dependencies across 3 providers: Fastly, Google, Help Scout. The reviewed operational path is therefore not entirely European.
Mastodon is an open source microblogging service built as a federated social network. Instead of one central company, anyone with the technical knowledge can run a server where people register, much like email providers. Servers talk to each other over the open ActivityPub protocol, so you can follow and interact with accounts hosted elsewhere.
Because Mastodon is self-hosted open source software, the project is not necessarily European, and where your data lives depends on the server you join. Many servers are operated and hosted in Europe, some of them on renewable energy, and choosing one of those gives you a European alternative to the American social networks.
Data and operations
Verified operational dependencies, shown separately from ownership and from the service's core data hosting.
Public website
Why this matters
Public DNS routes website visits through Fastly. Visitor IP addresses and request metadata can reach this non-European provider; this does not identify the core service's data location.
Incoming business email
Why this matters
Published MX records route incoming business email through Google Workspace. Correspondent details and message content can therefore enter this non-European provider's systems; MX does not reveal the configured storage region.
Authorised outbound email
Why this matters
This domain authorises Google Workspace to send email. If active, recipient details and message content can be processed by this non-European provider. SPF does not reveal its configured storage region.
Authorised outbound email
Why this matters
This domain authorises Help Scout to send email. If active, recipient details and message content can be processed by this non-European provider. SPF does not reveal its configured storage region.
