Fear of being snooped on by the US secret service would see mobile phones banned from cabinet meetings if the opposition wins September's election, Chancellor Angela Merkel's rival said on Tuesday.
German data protection standards should form the basis for future EU-wide regulation, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told Die Welt newspaper on Monday.
Germany's Interior Minister said on Monday that Germans should calm down and stop complaining about being spied on by the Americans, and that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion.
German President Joachim Gauck said on Friday he had been so deeply troubled by the NSA spying revelations that he had wondered whether it was still safe to send emails and talk openly on the phone.
The NSA spying scandal has put fresh wind in the sails of the struggling German Pirate Party. A recent poll shows support has doubled from two to four percent since the news broke.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said "Germany is not a surveillance state" and insisted she only learnt of sweeping US online snooping through press reports, during a lengthy election-campaign press conference Friday.
News that internet 'intelligence' collected by US spies was shared with the Germans gives foreigners here food for thought. This week's <b>Local List</b> suggests five ex-pat online postings you may not want Germans to see - and one you may.
The German government Wednesday denied a report claiming that the nation's military knew for years about the US surveillance programme PRISM revealed by fugitive former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.
Ten weeks before German elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-left rivals have gone on the attack over reports of sweeping US online surveillance and German cooperation, sparked by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.
A German man who called on Facebook friends concerned about American secret service operations to join him in a walk around a US army spy centre near his home, found secret service men at his door checking his political leanings.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Sunday for EU-wide data protection rules and transparency from internet giants such as Google and Facebook, saying they must say where people's data is going.
A conservative German politician has called on the judiciary to circumvent whistleblower Edward Snowden's asylum denial - by summoning him as a witness in a criminal case against US spy programmes.
Germany's main political parties defended Tuesday evening's decision to deny asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden, in the face of heavy criticism from the Greens and the Pirates.
Fugitive Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in a number of European countries including Germany, which said on Tuesday it was reviewing the request.
The European Union should offer safe haven to fugitive US leaker Edward Snowden, a leader of Germany's opposition Green party, former cabinet minister Jürgen Trittin, said Monday.
The German Justice Minister reacted with shock on Saturday to revelations that British as well as US spies intercept and collect European communications - yet a survey shows most Germans don't believe they have been in the spotlight.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will tackle US President Barack Obama on the scale of American online surveillance, and call for "transparency" on its scope as she hosts him in Berlin this week.
The German government said Tuesday it planned to send a list of questions to the US administration over revelations that Washington is running a worldwide internet surveillance programme.
