hCaptcha by Intuition Machines — US-headquartered (San Francisco). Marketed as a privacy-first reCAPTCHA alternative but still operated under US jurisdiction with CLOUD Act exposure.
The most common reasons buyers tell us they're moving to an EU alternative.
CLOUD Act exposure
US authorities can compel non-EU providers to hand over data even when stored on EU servers — incompatible with strict data-sovereignty contracts.
DPAs & CJEU rulings
Multiple EU DPAs have ruled that data transfer to the US violates GDPR Article 44 without further safeguards.
Procurement requirements
Many EU public-sector and regulated tenders now require EU-jurisdiction software and data residency. Tools listed here meet those requirements out of the box.
Vendor diversity
Reducing dependence on a small number of US hyperscalers and SaaS providers is a strategic goal across many EU governments and enterprises.
Open-source self-hosted captcha using proof-of-work, no external calls or data sharing
Invisible captcha hosted in Austria with WACA accessibility certification and per-site quotas
Invisible proof-of-work captcha that blocks bots without cookies, puzzles or tracking