But successive German governments really like the state to collect all communications data - so the sensitivity is very one-sided.

That's the funny thing: they are sensitive of data collection by corporations when the data collection during the DDR was done by the government, something that they surely dont care about.

the major other difference being that I can democratically elect who is part of my government. I cannot do this in a US owned corporation.

Government surveillance on citizens has a long history of horrifying consequences, especially in Germany. What is the worst corporations are doing with our data? Better ads?!

> What is the worst corporations are doing with our data? Better ads?!

There is often no clear dividing line between government and corporations. You give one freedom to abuse privacy and it will be used by the other.

You mean the governments will abuse the privacy, no matter who gathers the data. Then maybe our fight is with them, not businesses.

No, what I said doesn't preclude corporations abusing privacy.

They regularly try to do this, as with working from home monitoring, or insurance companies profiling individuals.

Governments can also be governments in name only, see corporatocracism.

> working from home monitoring, or insurance companies profiling individuals

Comparing that with what governments can do with data gathered about me, I know which ones I want to be protected from. Unfortunately they are the ones writing privacy laws and they leave huge loopholes for themselves.

especially not in systems in which the goverment turns totalitarian. (see, fascism and while stalinism doens't have the concept of a company, many of its state owned enterprises where former companies).

Yup. Governments already can access any data they want anyway. Sure, with access to big data collected from corporations that would be easier, but even without that, government can do whatever they want (unfortunately).

This harms companies, website owners trying to use services, and users (someone using my free site, I need to monetize it, targeted ads was a nice way, now I can't).

I see no upsides of actually protecting privacy.

I don't see that as a relevant distinction. Democratically elected governments can do really bad things, too, and they have a much bigger tool kit for it than corporations.