Merkel urges global data protection rules amid US surveillance row

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Sunday for strict global rules on the protection of personal data amid anger in Europe over the revelations of wide-ranging US surveillance programmes. “We must work together in the fight against terror, but on the other hand, also guarantee the privacy of citizens. Not everything that is technically feasible in the future must be put to use. In our view, the ends do not justify the means,” she told the broadcaster ARD, according to DPA. Merkel urged European countries to “speak with one voice” on the issue of data protection and promised that Germany would discuss with European regulators the creation of “a single European scheme” that would lay out how internet companies manage user data. The comments come in the wake of an uproar in Germany over US whistleblower Edward Snowden’s disclosures that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on allied governments and their citizens through the so-called Prism program.