The expectation of a higher level of privacy in Germany and other European countries is usually based on a common misunderstand:
Privacy does not protect against state surveillance, on the contrary: State Surveillance is always excluded from privacy laws. All European countries, in particular Germany, cooperate with the US in surveillance.
And while the data privacy regulation in Europa is without any doubt much stricter in Europe than in the US, it is also very ineffective since there are usually no direct sanctions except for political cases like Google's collection of WLAN data. In addition, most start-up companies rely on American services providers. The advantage of using American service providers is simply to great to be ignored, and data privacy is rarely an issue. American service providers are usually much better at offering superior functionality at a better price.
There are differences that have everyday consequences. It is illegal in Germany to share information gained by intelligence agencies with the regular police[1]. This is eroding, but we are fighting against it.
State surveillance is specifically regulated in a fundamental right that is unique to Germany[2]. There are officials trying to ignore this (Autobahn toll-collection), but we are fighting against it.
Most people here use American service providers, American social networks and the like. Those who are not uneasy regarding the privacy of the data are quite the minority. Many people use fake names on facebook that only their friends know (Yea, doesn't work, but they try!) and are very picky regarding the information they share. German companies with critical information are avoiding American services or, for those that were to blind to see what was coming, moving away from American services. Everybody here knows that US companies are unavoidable these days, but we are trying do do something against it.
Germans are extremely suspicious of intelligence agencies and completely disapprove of data sharing with the US and UK. However, it still happens because, as a consequence of that war we lost, the Western Allies have access to our intelligence agencies. This seems to be impossible to change, but we are fighting against it.
It is (was) also illegal for the NSA to share most of the information it gathered with local law enforcement but that didn't stop it. There are also people fighting against it in the U.S., but that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
Also see http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/europe-wont-save-.... The argument there is that (a) a mutual assistance treaty nullifies Germany's protections because it requires cooperation with U.S. intelligence and (b) German companies are forbidden from notifying users if data is requested for law enforcement purposes.
Privacy does not protect against state surveillance, on the contrary: State Surveillance is always excluded from privacy laws. All European countries, in particular Germany, cooperate with the US in surveillance.
And while the data privacy regulation in Europa is without any doubt much stricter in Europe than in the US, it is also very ineffective since there are usually no direct sanctions except for political cases like Google's collection of WLAN data. In addition, most start-up companies rely on American services providers. The advantage of using American service providers is simply to great to be ignored, and data privacy is rarely an issue. American service providers are usually much better at offering superior functionality at a better price.