(Telecompaper) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building up a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the US. Merkel has been pushing for greater data protection in Europe following reports last year of mass surveillance in Germany and elsewhere by the US National Security Agency, including even Merkel's mobile phone. In her weekly podcast, the Chancellor said that she disapproved of companies such as Google and Facebook basing their operations in countries with low levels of data protection while being active in countries such as Germany with high data protection, Reuters reports. She said she will raise the issue at a visit to France with the president on 19 February. "Above all, we'll talk about European providers that offer security for our citizens, so that one shouldn't have to send emails and other information across the Atlantic. Rather, one could build up a communication network inside Europe," she said. Hollande's office confirmed that the governments had been discussing the matter and said Paris agreed with Berlin's proposals.