Amazon is offering its corporate customers the option of running internet services and holding data in Germany as it addresses concerns from European businesses about the threat of online spying in the US.

The retailer’s cloud computing arm has unveiled plans to build centres in Frankfurt as businesses and governments in continental Europe have been increasingly alarmed at revelations of internet surveillance, exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

US and UK security services were shown to be capable of breaking into the networks of the US’s leading technology companies, while there was uproar over revelations that the personal phone of German chancellor Angela Merkel had been tapped. European companies hoping to gain some protection from this surveillance have demanded that data be held on servers within the EU, which is seen to have stricter data protection laws than elsewhere in the world. This is particularly the case in Germany, which has powerful online privacy watchdogs.