I always had the suspicion that the (seemingly higher) interest in privacy/FOSS in Europeans is fueled partly by anti-Americanism. In America, even if you don't trust the government, at least it's your government, so I don't feel like that plays as big a role, and any interest in privacy/FOSS (like mine) is untempered by the anxiety of an alien government's interference. :p Regardless, I love how much more Europeans seem to value privacy.