Deutsche Telekom plans to keep all web traffic in Germany to hide from PRISM spies

Deutsche Telekom has moved to protect its customers from government spy agencies by changing its processes to only route local internet traffic through domestic servers.
A Deutsche Telekom spokesman confirmed to V3 that the company has begun redirecting internet traffic, explaining the move is designed to make it more difficult for intelligence agencies such as the US National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor web traffic.
"Telekom is strongly in favor of keeping German internet traffic within national borders (‘national routing'). The next step would see this solution expanded to include Schengen countries. Secret services of countries outside this area would then find it much more difficult to access this data traffic," the firm said.
Deutsche Telekom announced plans to shift local internet user data through servers in Germany in August. The move is designed to offer Deutsche Telekom customers assurance that their data is safe from government spy agencies.
Regaining customer trust has been a key battle for businesses since news of the NSA's PRISM operation broke. The PRISM scandal began earlier this year when ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden leaked documents to the press proving that the NSA was siphoning vast amounts of web user data from companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook.
The Deutsche Telekom statement called for governments to create new legislation stopping intelligence agencies from mounting such overarching spying campaigns.
"In addition we now urgently need the European Data Protection Regulation in order to achieve uniform, high-calibre data-protection standards," read the statement. "Politicians, above all, must step up when it comes to stopping espionage by allied states."
The PRISM revelations has led to a global backlash against US web service, cloud and telecoms companies. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced plans to take a similar strategy to Deutsche Telekom and create a new "secure email" service within the country.
The translation reads: "We need more security on our messages to prevent possible espionage," as reported by AFP.
It is currently unclear if any other European or UK network carriers plan to take a similar strategy to Deutsche Telekom. At the time of publishing BT, Telefonica, Vodafone and EE had not responded to V3's request for comment.