I think one of the reasons that Germany (and to a related extent, the EU) has such strong and progressive laws regarding online privacy is due to having screwed

I think one of the reasons that Germany (and to a related extent, the EU) has such strong and progressive laws regarding online privacy is due to having screwed it up so bad in recent history. The stasi situation is a very clear example of how ubiquitous surveillance can really fuck up social relations, and similar poignant examples are lacking from most western countries. Godwin's law and other comparisons are just figures of online speech, whilst here in Germany it's a very direct and concrete thing when there is clear and very recent (less than 40 years ago) history of these actions.