NSA Internet Spying Sparks Race to Create Offshore Havens for Data Privacy

Three of Germany's largest email providers, including partly state-owned Deutsche Telekom, teamed up to offer a new service, Email Made in Germany. The companies promise that by encrypting email through German servers and hewing to the country's strict privacy laws, U.S. authorities won't easily be able to pry inside. More than a hundred thousand Germans have flocked to the service since it was rolled out in August. Fueled by the controversy, countries are seeking to use data-privacy laws as a competitive advantage—a way to boost domestic companies that long have sought an edge over Google, Microsoft and other US tech giants.