"Data privacy regulations in the EU are among the strictest" 1 Feb 2015

That’s what I read everywhere. Especially Germany is said to, by law, offer immunity to government interception of private data. But it appears that outsiders (and insiders, sadly) are unable or unwilling to cut right down to the truth.

We Germans value our Grundgesetz (basic law) very much. Or put better: we’re supposed to. So lets dig right into article 10, section 1.

(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.

Goosebumps. We’re safe. Store your data in Germany and, bloody sake, DON’T LOOK ANY FURHTER. You might end up reading section 2:

(2) Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law. If the restriction serves to protect the free democratic basic order or the existence or security of the Federation or of a Land, the law may provide that the person affected shall not be informed of the restriction and that recourse to the courts shall be replaced by a review of the case by agencies and auxiliary agencies appointed by the legislature.

Duh. “Unless we say so, you belong to us!”.
Don’t listen to anybody boasting pseudo-humane EU law because they do shit anyway.