Sovereignty and website

Achieving technical sovereignty , from design to maintenance, is now a strategic objective for many organizations. This means controlling the entire value chain of a website to guarantee independence, security, and full ownership of the data.

Such a site is based on three fundamental pillars: open software , a controlled infrastructure and self-hosted audience measurement .

The application design via open source

The first act of sovereignty is to choose a non-proprietary software solution , or possibly a European SaaS software solution.

The non-sovereign approach: Using proprietary SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify.

Problem: You are a tenant. The code does not belong to you (vendor lock-in), you are dependent on the publisher's technological and pricing choices, and your data is hosted in their infrastructure.

The sovereign approach: Use an open source CMS (Content Management System) .

Principle: The code is transparent, auditable, and belongs to you. You have the freedom to modify it, optimize it, and host it wherever you want.

Technical solutions:

• Drupal : A benchmark in robustness, security, and flexibility. Its "CMF framework" nature allows for the construction of complex and sovereign applications.
• WordPress.org : (Not to be confused with WordPress.com, which is SaaS). The .org version is the open-source software that you install on your own server.
• TYPO3 or Joomla!: Other recognized open source alternatives.

Infrastructure: Controlled Hosting

The best open source software loses its sovereignty if it is hosted by an uncontrolled actor.

The non-sovereign approach: Hosting your site on the GAFAM platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure) or with hosts subject to extraterritorial laws (such as the American CLOUD Act , which allows US authorities to access data, even if it is stored in Europe).

The sovereign approach: It combines two aspects:

1. On-premise hosting (maximum sovereignty):

• Principle: The site is hosted on your organization's physical servers.
• Technical solution: Requires internal infrastructure (servers, network, maintenance), often using virtualization technologies (VMware, Proxmox) or containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes). This offers complete control, but is also the most complex.

2. Sovereign cloud hosting (the right compromise):

• Principle: Use a cloud provider whose physical infrastructure and legal entity are located in your territory (e.g., France/Europe) and are not subject to extraterritorial laws.
• Technical solutions (French examples): Scaleway (Iliad), OVHcloud
• Guarantee: These actors ensure that your data remains physically and legally in Europe, under the protection of the GDPR .
• Our specialized entity , Alter Way , is here to assist you in choosing the right infrastructure based on your needs and constraints.

Data: Analytics tracking

This is the most common point of departure from sovereignty.

The non-sovereign approach: using Google Analytics . Problem: it's the antithesis of sovereignty. It's a third-party script that sends all your users' browsing data to Google's servers (in the United States). You don't own the raw data; you only view it. You're essentially handing over your "data exhaust" to a third party for its own purposes (advertising profiling).

The sovereign approach: Use an open source and self-hosted analytics solution .

• Principle: The tracking script and the database that collects visits are installed on your own server (ideally the same as the website's server). You are the only entity to own, access, and process this data.
• Technical solutions:
  • Matomo (formerly Piwik): This is the absolute standard. Open source, comprehensive, and recognized by the CNIL (French Data Protection Authority). When properly configured (IP anonymization, disabling cookies), it can even be exempt from requiring consent for cookies.
  • Plausible Analytics: A lighter alternative, also open source and self-hostable, very focused on simplicity and respect for privacy.
  • Umami: Another open source solution, simple and quick to deploy.

Sovereign base

An example of a 100% sovereign technical foundation could therefore be, for example:

• Application :   Drupal 11 (for content and business logic).
• Infrastructure:   Scaleway or OVHcloud (for sovereign hosting in Europe).
• Analytics:   Matomo (self-hosted on the same infrastructure for full data ownership).

Conclusion

The Smile Group, as an operator of open source solutions across the entire web value chain (design, development, hosting), has historically positioned itself on a sovereign approach.
If you are about to implement a new web architecture with the desire for technical independence and control of your data, we can assist you in choosing your technical stack and its proper integration.