Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, announced that she will push for tougher European Union data protection rules. She also said that she is set to force internet firms to be more open when it comes to data protection. Merkel raised these issues following instances of intrusive snooping made by U.S. intelligence in Germany.

Merkel said that she expects that the United States will stick to German laws in the future. The statement that Merkel released was the closest to acknowledging that the US spying techniques may have breached established German rules. Merkel said that tighter European rules for data protection were needed.

"Germany will make clear that we want Internet firms to tell us in Europe who they are giving data to," Merkel said in a statement.

"We have a great data protection law. But if Facebook is registered in Ireland, then Irish law is valid, and therefore we need unified European rules," she said. Merkel added that people were  worried about what would happened to data leaked outside of the country."Germany will take a strict position," Merkel added.