‘Normale Leute’ vs NSA spying: meet Germany’s ‘average’ data protesters

It's a late Saturday afternoon in the German capital, Berlin, where the iconic Brandenburg Gate is abuzz.

On its eastern side, hundreds of spectators have turned out to watch a summer long-jump competition called Berlin Fliegt.

But on the western side, bordering the Tiergarten Park, about 6000 people have assembled to express their outrage over United States National Security Agency (NSA) spying.

Their anger is palpable

During speeches by politicians and activists, you hear a reoccurring theme: in the year since the spying allegations were revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Germans still do not know the full extent of their own government's cooperation with the NSA.

A small number of the protesters are expats, such as Isabel Cole of the group, American Voices Abroad.

"It's important for citizens not to be under mass surveillance," Cole told DW. "Because mass surveillance means you're treating citizens as suspects in a sweeping way."

Patrick Breyer, a Pirate Party member of the Schleswig-Holstein regional assembly, echoes Cole's sentiment.

From anonymous masks to the cult of Snowden: image is everything

"When we are under constant surveillance, we can't behave as freely as we would otherwise," Breyer said during the event. "Excessive surveillance threatens to deter political protest and activism and also harms the free press, because informants find it more difficult to inform the press when they are under surveillance, and can't rely on anonymity."

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'Normale Leute' vs NSA spying: meet Germany's 'average' data protesters