NSA’s Internet Spying Program Harms Not Just Civil Liberties, But The Economy Too
I published a piece for the R Street Institute Friday on how the NSA’s internet spying program is not just harmful to civil liberties, but also harmful to the economy as well. The reason why, companies around the world have lost faith in the security of their data and software from American companies.
Last week, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hosted a forum in Silicon Valley on NSA spying as a means to drum up support for proposed reform legislation that has been stalled in the Senate.
Attended by executives from Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other tech companies, the forum found a receptive audience, as these companies are worried about their prospects of doing business abroad. A 2013 report warned that American companies could lose up to $180 billion in lost technology sales as a result of the NSA spying allegations. A report in August of last year found that American cloud computer services alone could lose up to $35 billion a year in lost overseas sales as a result of the revelations.
