Germany, France working together to drive Internet traffic away from US

Germany and France are reportedly trying to keep the Internet traffic away from the US following the mega revelations about the alleged mass surveillance programme of the NSA.

The leaks by whistleblower Edward Snowden prompted nations across the globe to pump up their Internet security and observe stricter laws.

Germany, in particular, has been talking about keeping its internet traffic and email messages private within the country and is now planning to work with France to build a network throughout Europe to keep the data away from the US, The Verge reports.

The NSA leaks had claimed that German chancellor Angela Merkel's phone had been snooped on for over a year as part of the alleged surveillance programme, upsetting the lady who said the operations were a 'serious breach of trust.'

According to the report, Merkel is planning to discuss a European communication network that'll keep Internet traffic away from the US with French President Francois Hollande when they meet later this week.

Apart from Germany, Brazil has also expressed interest in keeping its traffic away from the US, but some are concerned that increased division of the internet along country borders would go against the very principles the internet was founded on, the report added.